Fly Fish The Big Hole

As the Big Hole enters the canyon stretches, it changes drastically in surroundings and gradient. Here, grassy meadows give way to house-size boulders hiding some 3000 browns and rainbows per mile and some of our favorite ‘pocket water’. The hatch list, too long to cover it all, includes Mother’s Day Caddis, Salmon flies and Hoppers.

Wildlife is abundant along its entire length. It is not uncommon to see Golden eagles, White-tailed deer, and moose all in the same day. Further down, the river begins to slow.

The Big Hole eventually merges with the Beaverhead River just north of the town of Twin Bridges, forming the Jefferson River. Bluebird days and Hoppers; or clouds and streamers, the Big Hole is a river that everyone enjoys.

From early season pre run-off action that can be lightning fast on streamers and dries, to picture perfect summer-time dry flies; you can fish for five different species of trout (brook, rainbow, brown, the native grayling and cutthroat) on one river. And of course, radiant September and October, when solitude and ravenous kype-jawed browns await your presentation.

The upper Big Hole meanders its way through several meadows brimming with brook trout, rainbows and the last wild population of Arctic fluvial grayling in the US – all eager risers to your favorite dry fly. We’ve heard from more than one grinning client, “This is exactly what I imagined a Montana river would be like.”

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