We’ve heard the stories about the Big Hole, especially at this time of year… “Sammietime”… Salmon Flies.  Everything was setting up nicely for our June 14th trip on the Big Hole, except for one thing; the Big Hole was nearing flood stage and flowing at over 7000 cfs.  In other words, yet another western river flowing very fast and very high.  Add to that, there was more rain in the forecast.

We did see evidence of these huge flies that trout love to gorge on in the trees and bushes along the river.  However, because of the strange weather, the big bugs weren’t landing in the water and more importantly, no fish were rising.  So, as we took off in our drift boat, traveling over 10mph on the water (aka. fast) with our dry/dropper rigs, we were hoping to lure them up, or if not, have them eat the rubber legs we were nymphing about 3 feet below the surface.  When that didn’t work, we realized the fish were down, and we switched to dredging nymph rigs, which proved successful.

We had a great day on the Big Hole fishing with Cory Calkins.  While it was difficult fishing, Cory kept swapping out our rigs to find the right combination of flies that ultimately brought fish to the net.  We can’t wait to come back and actually hit the famous Big Hole salmon fly hatch with Cory.  For now, please enjoy his “guide talk” on the banks of the Big Hole.

Ramble On

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