Big Hole River Trip

[yubaman]

Four of us just returned from a 9 day outing in Southwestern Montana. We had an opportunity to fish the Big Hole, Beaverhead and Ruby rivers. We head down to the Great Waters Inn in Melrose about every 3 years and hit these rivers. Mark Lane has a nice setup there. The Lodge is right on the banks of the Lower Big Hole. They do a nice lodging, meal and guiding setup. It is slightly on the rustic, but comfortable side. It is quite a bit more reasonable than the other $1,200 a day lodges that dot the Big Hole Valley. They have an awesome Mancave and rehydration setup in their lodge to take care of their guests. It was an awesome setup to watch the Warriors broom out the Cavs during our first night there.

The Big Hole was running at 10,000 cfs 2 days before we left and had dropped to 4000 cfs by the time we had left. The Salmonfly hatch, which we were attempting to hit, had begun the day before we left. It looked to be near perfect! The first day we fished, Salmonflies were loaded in the bushes and some in flight, but the fish were not keyed in on them yet. The best fishing should be over the following 3-4 days. That night, the temperature dropped to 25 degrees and killed most of the Salmonflies. DAMN! There was even some snow the next day. The first few days ended up with about a dozen fish per man each day, as you really had to scratch the fish out. We went over to the Ruby one day and had a good day of wade fishing over there. There were some nice healthy browns in the system over there.

The last 3 days, the weather warmed up and the fishing turned on. There were a few Salomonflies still around, quite a few Golden Stones, PMD's and Yellow Sallies that were hatching. One day on the Big Hole, two of us boated over 100 fish. There was some excellent streamer fishing when the clouds came in. They seemed to really take to an Olive Sex Dungeon.

It was great to get away from work, and the world for some days. During our stay, we had 80 degree days, snow and rain . . . a typical Montana June.

[Dragking]

Four of us just returned from a 9 day outing in Southwestern Montana. We had an opportunity to fish the Big Hole, Beaverhead and Ruby rivers. We head down to the Great Waters Inn in Melrose about every 3 years and hit these rivers. Mark Lane has a nice setup there. The Lodge is right on the banks of the Lower Big Hole. They do a nice lodging, meal and guiding setup. It is slightly on the rustic, but comfortable side. It is quite a bit more reasonable than the other $1,200 a day lodges that dot the Big Hole Valley. They have an awesome Mancave and rehydration setup in their lodge to take care of their guests. It was an awesome setup to watch the Warriors broom out the Cavs during our first night there.

The Big Hole was running at 10,000 cfs 2 days before we left and had dropped to 4000 cfs by the time we had left. The Salmonfly hatch, which we were attempting to hit, had begun the day before we left. It looked to be near perfect! The first day we fished, Salmonflies were loaded in the bushes and some in flight, but the fish were not keyed in on them yet. The best fishing should be over the following 3-4 days. That night, the temperature dropped to 25 degrees and killed most of the Salmonflies. DAMN! There was even some snow the next day. The first few days ended up with about a dozen fish per man each day, as you really had to scratch the fish out. We went over to the Ruby one day and had a good day of wade fishing over there. There were some nice healthy browns in the system over there.

The last 3 days, the weather warmed up and the fishing turned on. There were a few Salomonflies still around, quite a few Golden Stones, PMD's and Yellow Sallies that were hatching. One day on the Big Hole, two of us boated over 100 fish. There was some excellent streamer fishing when the clouds came in. They seemed to really take to an Olive Sex Dungeon.

It was great to get away from work, and the world for some days. During our stay, we had 80 degree days, snow and rain . . . a typical Montana June.

Thanks for the report. I'm headed to the Madison, Beaverhead, Ruby and Big Hole starting this weekend. I was planning to check in with Mark "Fast Lane" Lane as well, although we aren't staying there. Should be great if it stops raining!

[cyama]

Where are the photos Bob?

[yubaman]

For some reason, I am not able to upload photos here anymore?