denny griffin
09-26-2005, 10:13 PM
Just returned from 3 days on the Big Horn. Day one , hot and sunny, day two, overcast and cool with a front moving in. Day three, rain and cool. They flushed the river the day we arrived so we had to contend with lots of floating grass, but only for one day. Floated the whole 12 miles on day one, from the dam to 12 mile take out. Got plenty of fish, about 30%Browns and 70% rainbow.
On the way in we stopped at Big Horn River Lodge and talked to the owner, Phil Gonzales. Phil put us on the right flies (san juan worms and small#16 or 18 sow bugs or scuds with a pinkish hue). I had very good succes dropping the sow bug below the worm. The worm we used was fairly heavy so I took off my split shot and indicator and basically swung my flies on about 10 feet of leader. My buddies were laughing at the rig, but I was having great success. Also picked up 3 nice fish swinging a green zonker.
On day two and three we only covered the first three miles of river and did lots of wading. we got plenty of fish. Dry fly action was marginal. Black caddis hatch was over and tan caddis hatch had not started and we saw no tricos in the evenings. A few small midge hatches during the day. We only picked up a few small fish on drys.
Over all, it was a great trip. Most of the fish were in the 12 to 14 inch range, but we managed to get a few bigger in the 18 to 20inch class.
Happy to answer any questions for anyone who has not been there before.
Denny Griffin
On the way in we stopped at Big Horn River Lodge and talked to the owner, Phil Gonzales. Phil put us on the right flies (san juan worms and small#16 or 18 sow bugs or scuds with a pinkish hue). I had very good succes dropping the sow bug below the worm. The worm we used was fairly heavy so I took off my split shot and indicator and basically swung my flies on about 10 feet of leader. My buddies were laughing at the rig, but I was having great success. Also picked up 3 nice fish swinging a green zonker.
On day two and three we only covered the first three miles of river and did lots of wading. we got plenty of fish. Dry fly action was marginal. Black caddis hatch was over and tan caddis hatch had not started and we saw no tricos in the evenings. A few small midge hatches during the day. We only picked up a few small fish on drys.
Over all, it was a great trip. Most of the fish were in the 12 to 14 inch range, but we managed to get a few bigger in the 18 to 20inch class.
Happy to answer any questions for anyone who has not been there before.
Denny Griffin