Bighorn River Update August 31st

The Bighorn continues to provide very solid fishing as we move into September.  Flows are stable at 2400 cfs and clarity is pretty darn good.  Not like what we’ve seen in the past few years with the ‘green’ water.  The grass is growing in spots, mainly the Upper 3, but also provides us with the great amount of insects found out there right now.  Water temps are in the low 50’s out of the dam and warming as it meanders downstream.  There is no slowdown in sight.  Get to the Bighorn now as it is showing us just how good it can be!

The Black Caddis have faded just a bit, but we’re seeing good numbers of Tan Caddis throughout the entire river.  Don’t expect to find a lot of fish up, but some very impressive sized ones.  Late afternoon – evening is your best bet for headhunting.  A good amount of Psuedos have shown up as well.  Sorry folks, no Tricos yet!  We think they’ll be here sometime…

Nymphing continues to be excellent throughout all reaches of the Bighorn.  Sowbugs, Caddis pupa, Scuds and a few PMD nymphs are on the menu.  A few of our favorite patterns right now include Pete’s Carpet Bug (tan, grey 14-16), SH Rays (tan, grey 14-16), Poodle Sniffers, Twisted Scud (orange), and just about any pattern with Pheasant tail on it (14-16).

Streamer activity seems to be a bigger deal now as we finally have had some cooler weather (at least right now).  The lower river is your best bet for that and fishing small bugger and leech patterns (Thin mints, Krystal Buggers, Pine Squirrel leeches, various buggers) are the goods.  No sink tips needed yet as many fish are up in the fast, shallow water.

Fall on the Bighorn is moving in soon and we can’t be happier with the quality and quantity of big fish right now.  You might think about making your way out here if you haven’t made plans yet!