HAWGust

Long time no update... sorry folks. Fishing and flows have been an absolute roller coaster ride from June thru July, but somehow we remained busy working on the river. Fishing now is really really really good.

big cutty on a hopper from a small local creek

Flows are down to 1200cfs, the clarity is great, and the water temp is good. And despite rather mossy conditions the trout seem to be super hungry.

Joe was able to entice this beautiful brown to eat a grasshopper

There has been a grasshopper infestation in the valley this year and across most of the state it sounds like, Dry/dropper combinations seem to be the most effective and we are starting to see pods of trout chowing on tricos in the morning.

Big Horn River brown trout, Thermopolis, Wyoming

If you want to get in on some incredible fishing, we do have some available dates between now and the end of the month.

We've been seeing A LOT of rainbows like this one. Dick landed this feisty specimen on a hopper

Lot of dates open in September too. I anticipate the fishing is going to stay consistent and it should even get better as fall approaches.

Summer fishing at its finest!

We hope to see you in our boats soon!

Bighorn River, Thermopolis, Wyoming - Fly Fishing Report Update - August 2018

Bighorn River Fishing Report

Flow out of Boysen Dam is around 1000cfs. River blew out yesterday from all the rain Sunday night, she was running blood red from the wedding down. Clarity is improving and should be back to normal in a couple days.

Fishing has been good. A little trico action, a little hopper action, and productive nymph fishing.

Rick from Team McKay with an awesome first brown

Good friend & client, Gary K, with a solid 22x12 rainbow

Got a few days open still for Sept and starting to book October. Also thinking about offering a couple Spey Casting clinics at the end of October and maybe November if there's enough interest... if this is something you're into, get in touch with us and we can start working on the details.

feels like fall

All of a sudden. Looking at some cooler temps this week after a couple scorchers. Fishing is good. Still plenty of trico action and some good hopper fishing. Nymphing is good and the streamer bite is decent. Here are some photos from the last week.

Garrett from Greybull with a nice fat brown

We still have a few days open for September,  don't be shy, give us a call and we'll go fishing.

Alyssa has been tying flies like crazy, you might want to order a dozen.

Garrett with a nice rainbow

And if you like hucking big steamers all day for a chance at a truly large fish,  we are gonna give you a deal from October 15 thru December. And if your arm falls off we'll throw some rapalas.

Brad thought he was stuck on a rock and then we landed this pig horn brown

Trico fishing

...has been pretty good. Some of the best hatches I've seen all summer occurred last week. We've had some 40-50 fish days nymphing... worms and crayfish mostly. I've been hopper fishing with Gary the last couple days and the bite is day to day but we're finding some nice fish.

They bumped the river yesterday for dam work and it helped to clear out some of the grass.

Bighorn River Fishing Report - Thermopolis, WY

Flows out of Boysen Reservoir are somewhere around 1,100cfs. There is slight fluctuation which seems to be loosening some of the grass mats or floating islands. If I had a nickel for every time I've had to say grass in the last month I probably wouldn't ever have to guide again...which some days sounds appealing. Moss, crap, junk, stuff, salad, shnot, schmutz, shit... whatever moniker you choose... IT HAPPENS.

The fishing: is good. Tricos can be the day saver if you can get it to the fish. Cloudy days are best for terrestrial action. Streamer fishing doesn't look like any fun. The water has cleared significantly and has made the clean troughs easy to decipher for the nymphing. Drowned Tricos are definitely the key in the morning or small pt's which may also be good for caddis pupa later in the day. The worm bite has been good as a dropper in the fast shallow water.

These could be in your box.

This could be in your basket.

See ya out on the river.

open dates

Our calendar is filling in fast. We have plenty of open days from August 15-22. Alyssa has 8/26, 8/27, 8/29, 8/30 & 8/31 open. I'm booked until 9/9 and Alyssa has 9/2-9/12 open. Give us a call, operators are standing by.

September is coming.

Good clouds today should make for some excellent dry fly fishing. Nymphing is pretty tough right now because of all the grass, but we still hooked about 20 yesterday with a single angler. Had a midday lull but once we got into the faster water below Broadway we ended the day rather nicely. Alyssa had a great day fishing Tricos and hopper/dropper in the morning and really good straight hopper fishing on an afternoon run...she said they'd get an eat every time a cloud would come over. She's on the water today and I'm stuck here tying flies for a change. We still have some days open for the next couple weeks but I've got 17 in a row starting August 24 and my September is filling in fast. Alyssa is open for most of these dates... why not go fishing with the best looking guide in Wyoming?

Fishing Report - North Fork Shoshone River

Did a half day on the North Fork yesterday,  on about noon off at 5pm. Fishing was good, had chances at about 20 fish running a dry/dropper rig. We had quite a few eats on the big dry but most fish landed ate the Turd. River flow is at 450cfs and will probably be out of water by the end of this month, so let's get out there before its too late.

Fishing report and open dates

The Bighorn here in Thermopolis is flowing at 1350cfs. There is quite a bit of grass and floating moss which makes the nymph fishing pretty tough...just slap it off and get it back out there. Drowned Tricos are the ticket in the morning.
Lots of fish looking up and good pods are chowing Tricos on the surface.  Spinner fall occurs about 7:30. After 11 we've been throwing big foam flies (chubbies and hoppers) and finding some nice fish hanging under the trees and grassy banks.
we have plenty of open dates the first half of August which is unusual because it's my favorite time to throw hoppers.

Big brown. Big horn.