Big Hole Fishing - Salmon Fly Hatch Time!
June 2008
I fished the Big Hole River above the Maiden Rock boat launch on Cormier’s property on June 20, 21, and 22 – a total of about 20 hours on the river casting. My neck/shoulder is sore!
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The salmon fly hatch has been sparse this year. Robert Klein fished near Melrose on June 19th with Jerry Kustich and a rod builder from Norway, reporting seeing maybe a dozen flies or so. On June 20th, I easily saw 2-3x that many. On June 21st, I easily saw a 100 or more with them climbing up on the bank, fishermen, etc. By June 22nd, they were getting more sparse again.
Salmon Fly Hatch
This time of year is nothing short of magical on the Big Hole. Despite seemingly increasing fishermen year after year, it’s a big river during runoff and there’s lots of room to fish if you are willing to get away from the beaten path. I’ve seen salmon fly hatches in the past that were – well – downright pesky!
The insect is large, large enough to see flying from across the swollen river and then some. One’s initial impression of the fly may be of a hummingbird. They’re that large. They’re a beautiful and docile insect, but that’s not the first thing that enters your mind when they land or climb upon your face!
These pictures were taken on June 21st, the first day of summer. What a place to welcome in summer!
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Fishing
Fishing was slow. Cormier’s section of the river doesn’t getting any public waders, so I had ¼ to ½ mile stretch to myself except for occasional rafts. Only a couple stopped on the far shore and then only for short periods. They reported better fishing than I was experiencing. I’d think they were pulling my chain, but they seemed to busy for that.
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June 20: Three small fish, a rainbow and a brown on a Klein salmon fly and a brown on a Royal Coachman. Nothing over 14”.
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June 21: Five trout - a small rainbow on a Klein salmon fly and two 15” browns on the same. The fourth was a small brown on a small nymph dropper. The fifth was a little brown on a foam rubber abomination of a salmon fly.
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June 22: Three trout – all small browns on the Klein salmon fly. The largest wasn’t much more than 14”.
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Water Levels
The Big Hole is running high. It’s pretty clear, but heavily tea colored. USGS records below that it’s well above the previous record within the past five years. It was noticeably up each successive day.
Source: USGS
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Daily discharge statistics, in cfs, for Jun 22 based on 5 years of record more |
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Min |
20th |
Mean |
Median |
80th |
Max |
Most Recent |
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971 |
979 |
2510 |
2650 |
4090 |
4170 |
4,630 |
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Daily discharge
statistics, in cfs, for Jun 24 based on 5 years of
record more |
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Min |
20th |
Mean |
Median |
80th |
Max |
Most Recent |
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868 |
880. |
2280 |
2700 |
3500 |
3520 |
4,810 |
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