Bighorn River Update September 5

We just had a flow bump up to 3200 CFS a few days back.  It’s changed the river character a bit, especially with the addition of the grass growth.  Despite these changes, the majority of fish are willing to eat.  The unfortunate side is our hatches have waned and there is a fair amount of drifting vegetation below 3 Mile Access.  This definitely occurred a bit earlier than we had expected this season.

There are still some good fish to be found early and late in the day.  The upper 3 remains your best bet for finding consistent rising fish.  A smattering of Black Caddis, Tan Caddis, Psuedos and the odd PMD spinner are keeping fish interested.  This is later season dry fly fishing, so a good presentation is a must and don’t drag your bugs over the top of the fish.  They don’t like that..  No real signs of dependable Trico activity but we’ve seen some.

Nymphing has been steady.  Some mornings are good, some are tough.  Same for later in the day.  Best patterns include Frenchies, Poodle Sniffers, Split Case PMD’s, Nightmare Perdigon and a variety of worms.