Fishing the Big Hole River

Last week a few of us loaded up two drift boats and headed over to Melrose, Montana for a couple days of floating and fishing. Our river of choice was Big Hole.  Low water conditions caused a little bit of rock bar bouncing, but there was enough water to get a couple of boats stuffed with guys, gear, and dogs down the river.

We did two floats: one from Melrose down and the other down to Melrose.  The fishing wasn't hot, but we consistently picked up fish on nymphs and streamers.      A few fish were fooled into eating Skwallas, but the majority of the action occurred subsurface.

The Big Hole is a beautiful river, and it has the feel of a fishery with huge numbers of fish.  Once the river comes up, the fish should start hanging out under the enticing cut banks a little more, and things should heat up.  While we weren't awed by the fishing on this trip, the potential of this river definitely warrants a trip back.