We're Back

 Long time no blog. Alyssa and I have just returned from some much needed saltwater therapy. we spent a week in Baja with the family and caught a couple small roosterfish

Pez gallito still put up a helluva fight on a 9wt

Then we spent a week on Christmas Island where we caught a ton of bonefish and a few triggerfish...no shots at GT's

Korean Wreck... where there shoulda been GT's

Then we capped it off with a week in Hawaii where we caught a couple of movies and some culture. We had a handful of shots at those big spooky bonefish on Oahu.

Now we're pretending the snow on the ground is actually hard packed white sand flats

As for the fishing here: I'm not sure but i'll bet its good. It's gonna take a day of over 40 degrees to get me out on the river. Until then we are chained to the desk tying a mountain of fly orders.

We are already booking reservations for February and March so you better get on it to ensure availability.

Hope ya'll had a wonderful Holiday Season and here's to your health in the New Year!

See ya on the river soon!

-Alyssa & Neil

Bighorn River Flows Update

Talked to Bureau of Rec this morning and their guy in charge says the river will drop to 1500cfs today. Their goal is to have it down to 1100cfs by the end of the month and keep it there all winter.

Fishing is good. Weather is good.

We will be out of town Nov 18-26. Open dates on either side. If you wanna book a trip in the next couple days ill give ya a deal...

Hot soup

 Few inches of snow on the ground and not really wanting to break the freezing point has a few trips cancelled this week, but it looks like it's going to warm up a bit here the next few days if ya wanna hop in the boat.. hot soup included.

Flows have dropped to 2000cfs. Streamer bite has been pretty consistent and had good dry fly fishing over the weekend. Nymphing is okay. Water clarity is about 4 feet give or take.

Fishing report - Bighorn River - Thermopolis, WY

Fishing seems to be picking up. Had a fun couple days pitching streamers with Ryan.. couple of nice browns, some solid rainbows and even a carp...

Flows are still around 2500cfs... the rumor mill says they will drop it mid November. Clarity is getting better, just over a couple feet.

Nymphing is spotty, getting em in a few holes. Streamer fishing is good & bad.... Good one day and bad the next. And there are a few risers when we have the blue wings.

Plenty of days open until November 18 when we fly down to BAJA!

...and it continues

River was bumped up to 2500cfs. Still murky and still mossy.
Also WYF&G will be doing their shocking surveys this week,  Oct 16-19.

Doomsday report

River bumped up to 2100 cfs a couple days ago and has a lot of floating moss. Still murky from the turnover. Things oughtta be back to normal by next week. Streamer bite is okay, keep your flies clean. Nymphing has not been very good and dries are decent as long as it ain't windy

Busy weekend

Flows are 800 cfs give or take.  The river has been lowered to enable the removal of an island in Worland that causes ice jams and subsequent flooding.

I think the lake is turning over... River got pretty murky and there is a lot of globular floating moss.

Tricos are the ticket in the morning,  dry or drowned. Baetis are the key in the afternoons nymphs or dries.

Fall is in the air

Kipp with an awesome boat ramp brown. Ate a #20 drowned baetis

Cooler weather has the blue wings hatching and the fish feeding. River was dropped yesterday to around 900cfs. Water is clear.
Streamer bite has been decent, nymphing has been pretty consistent,  and the dry fly fishing has been awesome. Couple dates open for September and lots of dates open for October.  Celebrate fall and come fishing with us!

Weekend update

Flows are around 2200cfs. Monday night flows will drop to 1700cfs and then 1200cfs by Tuesday night. Hopefully fishing will get better. Right now it's still pretty inconsistent... few fish eating the hopper,  few fish eating the nymphs and like 3 or 4 steady risers on tricos. Still no grass or moss to speak of, so at least that's a positive note. Few dates left open for September and October is starting to book. Late October and early November is probably my favorite couple weeks on the river... good streamer and nymph fishing, cooler weather and blue wings.

Crawdads and Browns

Had a fun couple of days with Mark and the boys from Tennessee

We caught quite a few rainbows, too.

Eclipse weekend

Pretty good weekend of fishing. River is still around 2200cfs. Getting a few hopper eats and crawdads are still producing. Here's a few of my favorite fish from the last couple days

Fishing report

Brie is all smiles with a big brown 

Flows are around 2200cfs which is actually about normal for this time of year. Nice to see the bottom in a few places. Clarity is still just a couple feet. Not much in the way of dry fly action yet, though we did get a handful of fish to eat the hopper. Fishing overall is OK... not very consistent.  Maybe 10 fish hooked one day and then 30 or 40 the next.... definitely a gamble. The plus side is there is no moss to contend with. In the meantime I'm waiting for tricos....

Bighorn River Fishing Report

Flows are down to 2500cfs. Still about 2ft of vis. Banks are looking good. But no dry fly action. Maybe some streamer fishing. Nymphing is good and some days very consistent.

We've been on the water a lot lately but we do have a few days open in August.

Bighorn River Flows Update

Sounds like the river will be at 3000cfs on monday. Clearing up but still very green... Maybe 2ft of vis. Still eating crawdads and worms. Hopefully we will start seeing some dry fly action in the next couple weeks. Until then...
Keep it tight.

Fishing of course

Flows are around 5000cfs. I heard 4k by monday. Fishing is good, river is greening up nicely, and you can find the bottom in quite a few places. Streamer fishing sucks and there is no dry action... Nymphing with worms and crawdads seem to be the most consistent. No floating moss or grass. And you can make it under the low bridge below 8th Street.

Have a couple slots open for July. August is filling up fast. And plenty available dates for September. Dry fly fishing should get good by mid August and i think it's gonna be a great September.

What a long, strange melt it's been...

Talked with BuRec today... releases from Boysen were dropped to 7000cfs this morning. Probably drop to 6500 tomorrow and 6000 by the weekend. Their goal is 2500cfs by July 24th. River seems to be clearing... doesn't have that shit brown look to it anymore. ..more like baby shit green. Fishing can only get better from here.

Bighorn River Fishing Report - Thermopolis, Wyoming

River is still high (8400cfs) and still dirty (about a foot of clarity) but the fish still have to eat... and they are. Fishing is okay. Boating 10 or 15 fish with many more hookups in 4 or 5 hours.  If you're in the area and wanna do a float we are recommending half day trips to beat the heat of the afternoon.

Double chin brown

For those of you that want to float on your own,  you will want to take out at 8th Street Bridge... you CANNOT make it under the LOW BRIDGE at McDonald's. There are a lot of inner tubes littering the trees as a reminder to be safe out there... keep an eye out for floating 6 packs.

Bighorn river flows

This is from the Hot Springs County Emergency Management Facebook page...

Boysen and Bighorn River Summary & Update:
Yesterday the flow into Boysen dropped to an amount equal to the amount being released.
The official elevation of the lake is 4728.90 feet above sea level. That means that 4 feet of the flood pool was used.
Release will remain at 9000cfs a few more days in order to vacate a lot of that water.
Let me introduce you to another office involved in decision support; The NWS Missouri Basin River Forecast Center in Pleasant Hill, MO. They forecast river flows across the entire Missouri River Drainage as well as inflows to the many reservoirs in that river system.
The MBRFC forecast is for flow into Boysen to drop roughly 1000cfs each day for the next 4 days. In a few days the release from Boysen will gradually be reduced so that finally, in several days the release from the dam will be in the 2000-3000cfs range and the lake storage will be considered "Full" at an elevation of 4725 feet.
Spring Runoff flows first began appearing on May 5th when they climbed above the 3000cfs mark. By June 2nd they had reached and exceeded 8000cfs. June 10th was the highest inflow day at 20,284cfs. Now it is over and we are headed into summer.
Reaching a good conclusion in a year of extreme snowpack and then rain on the snowpack takes technical expertise and a little help from Mother Nature. Thank you to the Bureau of Reclamation, NOAA, National Weather Service, Corps of Engineers, Natural Resource Conservation System, Wyoming State Engineer's Office, Water Resource Data System & Wyoming Climate Office at the University of Wyoming, and anyone I may have missed.

Crick Fishin

Big bugs, big browns, small streams

The Bighorn Basin has dozens of small rivers and creeks that are full of trout... if you know where to look. Gaining access to these cricks can be difficult and/or expensive.

We now have access to some private water which will cost you a little extra dough and the public water requires a hike and an adventurous spirit.

Cicadas are thick right now and the trout are hungry and healthy.  Hike into some breath-taking canyons and explore some real Wyoming fly fishing without any other anglers, like how it used to be. Give us a call for details and we'll take you into our secret spots... 307-480-8457

Fishing report

Reservoir is now over 100% full and flows are up to 9000cfs. Still puking mud out of the dam.

It's a banner cicada year here in the Bighorn Basin and luckily runoff has subsided on the small creeks giving us our dry fly fix. Get in touch if you wanna do a walk & wade trip on some very cool water, both public and private.

Bighorn River Fishing Report

Flows are around 8000cfs and the river literally looks like shit but we're catchin some nice fish. Me thinks runoff has peaked but I'm no climatologist. Hopefully things start settling in the reservoir and the river drops and becomes clear before July.

We have plenty of open dates if you're passing thru and wanna catch a few fish.

Dirty water report

Fishing over the weekend was pretty good despite the dirty water.  We ended up doing half days and still hooked about 20 fish per boat. Flows are still around 7000cfs but I heard a rumor that they may drop it next week. Stay tuned.

Weekend update

Flows are around 7000cfs. Inflow to the reservoir is around 5000. Reservoir level is around 65%. The lake is muddy and there's dirty water coming out of the dam. And where's this giant runoff? We're getting a slow melt and the Bureau of Recklessness is screwing up the river. Give them a call and ask em what the hell is going on!?!

As for fishing... it was decent last weekend. We caught fish. Some were good ones. We have trips going out tomorrow and I'll let ya know how it goes.

If ya wanna go on a float trip I would recommend a half day.

Fishing is silly good right now

Had my guy Chris from Jackson in the boat for the fourth time this year and he effing crushed it. Had close to 40 fish in the net.. single angler. Ridiculous.  Flows have been dropping all day,  will be around 3000cfs thru Wednesday so get out here now! Open tomorrow Tuesday and Wednesday. Do it. And the river below buffalo creek was very fishable today.

Bighorn River Flows

Reclamation Urges Caution During Fluctuation of River Flow Downstream of Boysen Dam

Media Contact: Mahonri Williams, (307) 261-5624

For Release: May 11, 2017

MILLS, Wyo. -- At the request of the Wyoming Department of Transportation, the Bureau of Reclamation will temporarily decrease the releases from Boysen Dam. The temporary decrease in flows will occur May 14-18.

The decrease in flow below Boysen Dam will allow the Wyoming Department of Transportation to stabilize an embankment associated with Highway 20/789 in the Wind River Canyon.

Beginning May 14 at 10:00 AM, Boysen Dam releases will be decreased by increments of approximately 500 cubic feet per second (cfs), occurring every four hours, to achieve flows of approximately 3,000 cfs the morning of May 15. On May 18, or upon completion of the project, the releases from Boysen Dam will be incrementally increased to approximately 6,500 cfs.

The public is urged to use extreme caution during this period of rapid fluctuation of flows below Boysen Dam.

And the fishing has been great. Excited for some lower flows for a couple days, fishing should be excellent. We have May 15-18 open

There's this, too

Reclamation Issues Snowmelt Forecast for Bighorn River Basin

Media Contact: Tyler Johnson, (406) 247-7609

For Release: May 10, 2017

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Reclamation's May forecast of the April through July runoff predicted for the Bighorn Basin is as follows:

• Bighorn Lake - Bighorn River April through July inflow to Bighorn Lake is forecast to be 3,057,600 acre-feet (af), which is 280 percent of the 30 year average of 1,093,400 af. Approximately 603,400 af of the forecasted amount flowed into Bighorn Lake during April, leaving approximately 2,454,200 af of inflow forecasted for May through July.
  
• Releases from Yellowtail Dam to the Bighorn River are currently 13,000 cfs. Based on the current operating projections and the expectation of record runoff, Bighorn Lake will be managed to fill to an elevation of 3640.0 feet. During peak runoff, releases from Yellowtail Dam to the Bighorn River are expected to be above 13,000 cfs.
  
• Buffalo Bill Reservoir - Shoshone River April through July inflow to Buffalo Bill Reservoir is forecast to be 1,250,000 af, which is 185 percent of the 30 year average of 677,200 af. Approximately 95,800 af of the forecasted amount flowed into Buffalo Bill during April, leaving approximately 1,154,200 af of inflow forecasted for May through July.
  
• Releases from Buffalo Bill Dam to the Shoshone River are currently 5,000 cfs. Based on the current operating projections and the expectation of record runoff, Buffalo Bill Reservoir will be managed to fill to an elevation of 5391.50 feet. During peak runoff, releases from Buffalo Bill Dam to the Shoshone River are expected to be above 5,000 cfs.
  
• Wind River - April through July snowmelt runoff into the Wind River above Bull Lake Creek is expected to be 800,000 af, which is 201 percent of the 30 year average of 398,100 af. Approximately 34,600 af of the forecasted amount was received during April, leaving approximately 765,400 af of inflow forecasted for May through July.
  
• Bull Lake Reservoir - April through July snowmelt runoff into Bull Lake Reservoir from Bull Lake Creek is expected to be 250,000 af, which is 184 percent of the 30 year average of 136,000 af. Approximately 10,300 af of the forecasted amount flowed into Bull Lake during April, leaving approximately 239,700 af of inflow forecasted for May through July.
  
• Boysen Reservoir - Wind River April through July inflow to Boysen Reservoir is forecast to be 1,500,000 af, which is 278 percent of the 30 year average of 540,000 af. Approximately 132,800 af of the forecasted amount flowed into Boysen during April, leaving approximately 1,367,200 af of inflow forecasted for May through July.
  
• Releases from Boysen Dam to the Wind River are currently 5,500 cfs. Based on the current operating projections and the expectation of record runoff, Boysen Reservoir will be managed to fill to an elevation of 4724.50 feet. During peak runoff, releases from Boysen Dam to the Wind River are expected to be well above 5,500 cfs.

For additional information on Buffalo Bill, Wind River, Boysen, and Bull Lake Reservoirs, contact Wyoming Area Manager Carlie Ronca at 307-261-5671. For additional information on Yellowtail Reservoir, contact Montana Area Manager Steve Davies at 406-247-7298.

From the Bureau of Reclamation website

Dirty water report

Well the slides up in the canyon have been contained so the clarity at wedding is great. But the crick across from wedding is puking in red mud from snow melt. Fishing is pretty much done with once you get past Buffalo Creek. But with that said, we've been having some stellar days on the river this week. We lost count after 40 fish hooked today and still managed to make it a full 8 hours on 3 miles of river. And most days we're the only boat out there.

One of many doubles from today

 Trout are eating worms and sow bugs and a few baetis and midge. Seeing handfuls of caddis out there so you could try a pupa. Still no fish up on dries except the random splashy eat.

Larry with a funny hat and a fine brown on Thursday

I wouldn't say get on the plane and get here now,  but if you happen to be driving thru Thermop on these early summer days or your local crick is muddied up, c'mon out and catch some fish. Great option for half day trips.

The funny hat in action... might be his lucky hat

Had some cancellations this week and plenty of days open for the rest of the month. Discovered a giant tear in the seat of my waters the other day so i dida little wet wading today.. waters still pretty cold... I'd probably trade a trip in the next week or two for a pair of Simms without holes.. im a size large.

We should start to see the river drop by early July just in time for tricos and hoppers and maybe some sallies... get in the boat,  let's go.

On the water report

Had a great weekend fishing with the University of Wyoming Women's fly fishing club... the Fish N Chicks... Full of sunshine, smiles and plenty of rainbows.

Thanks again, ladies, and we hope to see you all again next year!

As for the fishing. .. it's been pretty good despite a busy weekend with dirty water. Clarity has improved over the last couple days and flows remain around 5500cfs. The trout are consistently eating sow bugs and baetis nymphs. I had a sucker spew eggs all over the boat yesterday, so ya could try some sucker spawn. The worm bite was really good on saturday in the cloudy water. There are a handful of fish eating bugs on top but not consistent enough for catching....hoping this will get better.

Plenty of days open in May. Come fishing with us, I promise we'll make it worth your while.

Bighorn River Fishing Report - Thermopolis, Wyoming

Flow is steady around 5,500cfs. And fishing has been great out of my boat, been hooking 40-50 fish the last couple days. Other boats don't seem to be doing all that well, but I guess that's why I get paid the big bucks. Here are some highlights from yesterday:

As long as flows remain stable the fishing forecast looks excellent. Fish are still eating sow bugs like crazy and really turning on to baetis nymphs by mid day. Still got some days open in April and lots of days open in May. Boat traffic is very light right now due to the big flows, but the trout are all fat and eating... It's gonna be a long high water season across the rockies, might as well embrace it and keep on fishing.

Fishing report... high water style

Been graced the last few days with nice weather and a drop in the flows (4000cfs) but tomorrow is gonna be windy as shit and the flows are ramping back up to 5500cfs... it will come up in increments of 500 throughout the day. The bridge below 8th Street might cut your head off.

Fishing has been pretty good all things considered until ya get to the red cliffs..
I don't know why. The creek is dirtyin' it up a lil bit, but it's not not-fishable, it just ain't fishin. Upper river has been fishing great though.... Lots of nice fat trout. They're adjusting to the high water and so are we. Only seeing a boat or two a day..it's nice. Baetis nymphs,  midge, sow bugs are consistently catching and tomorrow I'll probly fish worms.

Still have open days April 24-30 and May 3-6.

Bighorn River Flows

Bumped the river yesterday to 5,000cfs. Fishing is... tough. I've been out the last couple days and we've managed to hook 20-30 fish, but most boats are hooking one or two. Water temps are still cold so the fish are still sitting in the slow spots, but there aren't very many slow spots. My advice, if you find a fish, stay there. The low bridge downstream of 8th Street is still passable,  but you're gonna wanna duck. Hopefully the river is going to be stable for a while. Good luck and be safe out there!

Post flush report

Flows are around 3000cfs. Having a boat is useful and knowing how to row it is even more useful. All the trout we caught yesterday were bursting at their seams... gorged on the bounty of leeches, worms and sow bugs provided by the flush. As flows stabalize, fishing should be excellent.

Also....
Went to the BLM's Bighorn Guides annual meeting on Tuesday night. Main topic of discussion was enforcement of "rogue" guides. Expect weekly patrols and if your guide does not have the proper BLM Special Recreation Permits, you, your guide and the outfitter may be fined. Lucky for you, we have the permits.

Fishing report - Bighorn River, Thermopolis

Flow is around 2100cfs. Flush is tomorrow, flows will be ramped up to 5,000cfs for the day. And we're looking at around 3,000cfs for the month of April.

We just wrapped up our week of guide trips with the ladies from Rods, Reels & Heels... it was an absolute giggle fest and a helluva good time!

Still no dry fly action, but there were a few baetis on the water.  Nymphing is still really good with sow bugs and midge. And the weekends are still really busy.

We're pretty open for the next couple weeks and fishing this week after the flush oughtta be good. And i like the higher flows for April. I'll keep ya posted on the status of dry fly activity.

On the water report

Fishing continues to be stellar despite busy and windy conditions. Nymphing is still really really good.  Sow bugs, scuds, midge and baetis and a few worms. Long leaders and a good chunk of lead. Starting to see more fish on redds and because of the higher water less people tromping on the gravel.

Still no dry fly action. But this warm weather oughtta get the things going hopefully by next week. Took a water temp of 45 degrees yesterday.

And streamer fishing isn't very good, but we're getting a few nice ones to commit to the big stuff.

Mouth full of meat

We have openings March 19-24 and April 1-10.

Bighorn River Flows & Fishing Report - Thermopolis

Just got off the phone with the Bureau of Reclamation and they say the river should remain steady thru March around 2000cfs. The flush is scheduled for March 28.

Fishing remains excellent. Sow bugs are still the primary diet. They're eating scuds but probly because they look like eggs. Been pumping a lot of midge pupa in black, cream and olive and a few baetis nymphs. Still not much dry action going on. And with the increase in flows worms and leeches should work well and maybe streamers.

Also we still have an available spot for Alyssa's Spey clinic on March 18.

Trout Spey Clinic

So you just bought a spey or switch rod and ya wanna learn how to use it? Come float with Alyssa Halls on the Bighorn River on Saturday, March 18, and she'll show you how it's done! This is a terrific time of year to swing steamers for trout on this river as the rainbows are very aggressive and there's no moss or grass to hang up your flies. Floating allows you to learn casts from each side of the river and helps you better access prime swing water. This is a full day float and you will wade and swing your flies thru as many different runs as possible. This trip is focused on instruction but your odds of hooking a few fish are great.  Bring your own spey/switch rod and your own spey/scandi/skagit line and we'll take care of the rest! Price is $200/person and includes instruction, flies, leader material, sink tips and a delicious riverside lunch, as well as some great company. Space is limited so get in touch soon for more info 307-480-8457

Fishing with Uncle Dave

Had a fun couple days fishing with Uncle Dave before the snowy snow hits us. Sow bugs seem to be the preferred food with scuds and midge on the side

Dave with a big bow

Dave with a big brown

Alyssa was batting clean up in the back of the boat today which led to many doubles..
More than we could count.

Alyssa with a nice brown from the back of the boat

Flows are still around 915cfs. Fishing is still really really good. Didn't have much traffic out there and the browns ate really good today. Ya still wanna focus on the deep slow stuff but we are starting to find a few more in the riffles on the insides. 

On the water report

Fished with Ryan on Friday & Saturday and had an awesome time. He came up from Houston and fished grey reef before he got to thermop and said he caught more fish here. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it! We lost count before lunch. The weather was gorgeous and the fishing was absolutely fantastic!

21 inch bow ate a size 20 midge under the bridge

Still offering $350 discount rates for 2 anglers until March 1st. Got a little snow coming in this week then we will see warmer temps again next week.

Love the blue on this brown

Plenty of holes in my calendar for March would really like to get em filled with dry fly enthusiasts. Last march we caught several browns around 22" on baetis dries and had shots at a couple 2 footers. Those big boys get super surface oriented as soon as they see the blue wings. Definitely my favorite dry fly month.

April and May are booking fast call now to reserve your dates!

See ya on the water!

River conditions...

..are back to normal. And fishing today was nothing short of spectacular. Got some days open, let's go.

Snowmelt?

The warm weather has triggered rapid snowmelt in the lower elevations causing area creeks to flood. So the river is pretty mucked up right now. But that didn't deter us from going fishing today.

Brooks and Luke came up from Lander and we just stayed above the mud for as long as my rowing arms could take it and we caught a buncha fish, had quite a few doubles, and despite the wind had awesome weather. I would love to have these guys in the boat again! Just good dudes all around...

Looks like all the snow below 6,000 feet has melted so the creeks oughtta not run much longer.  I'm thinking mid next week should see the river back to normal. But only time will tell.

Bighorn River, Wyoming - Winter Fishing Report

Off to a good start for the day

More cold and snow today and tomorrow. Looks like the weekend oughtta see temps over 40 degrees. Still eating the crap out of sow bugs.

Patrick with a nice rainbow

As of now I've only got Feb 12 and 17 on my books... so there's plenty of availability and we are still offering discounts even though it can be the best fishing of the year.