Bighorn River Montana

Fishing this spring so far has been awesome! Streamer and nymphs have been extremly productive. Numerous big fish have been caught on the lower river recently. We have caught some fish on dries (midges), the hatches of Midges and Blue Wing Olives should be getting better over the next few weeks. The water temperature at 3 mile is 41 degrees, the bugs are on the way! The reservoir levels are around 87% and the snowpack is around a 100%. We expect the river flows to start increasing around June 1st. If you have fished on the Bighorn during high water you know the fishing is red hot. Unlike many rivers experincing high water it usually means muddy water. The Bighorn River is gin clear during high water, the high flows kick a lot of food off the bottom and the fish literally go into a feeding frenzy. This is a great time to catch a lot of fish and some real monsters.

Starting in early July the flows should start decreasing and the wade fishing will be great. This is the time of year we will start fishing Hoppers! Last year Hopper fishing was the best any of us had ever seen. Montana Fish & Game predicts we should see an increase in hatches this year due to the flushing flows we have had the past few years. This is great news for dry fly fishermen. I cant wait!

Eagle Nest Lodge