Big Horn River Fishing Report - Wedding of the Waters - Thermopolis, WY

I'd like to say that fishing isn't any good, and some days it may not be, but other days it's been pretty fantastic. Still getting some hopper action, fish up on tricos when the wind isn't blowing, and dry/dropper and/or nymphing has been very consistent. Flows remain steady around 1200cfs and the weather is looking great for the next couple weeks.

Here are some highlights from the last week of fishing with clients...

Cheryl caught this big ol' brown on a hopper with Alyssa

and then they found this big ol' carp

Larry came out to fish with us on his first time fly fishing

and he caught these beautiful browns on hoppers with Chris

Tina scored this big brown with Alyssa 

Our longtime client Gary K. enjoyed some excellent hopper/dropper fishing for a couple days and was rewarded with this colorful brown trout

Another AWESOME brown trout from the Big Horn River in Thermopolis, Wyoming

This was the view from my rowers seat all day with Ben hooking up consistently 

    

....and we had a great couple days with Chris & Paul and their crew

Have a boat or two available for the next couple days, the big fish really seem to be eating right now. Also have have September 8-17 open and we can get you in a boat pretty much any other day except Sept 21-23. Time to start thinking about October and pre spawn browns...

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

Big Horn River Flow Update

Flow from Boysen Dam was raised to 6000cfs this morning. Water is rather dirty maybe a foot or two of clarity on the edges. We're pretty well booked for the rest of June, even though the fishing is not that great, but we are catching some nice fish. Look to late July or August for some dry fly fishing. Time to start thinkin about the creeks...

Bighorn River Fly Fishing Report - Thermopolis, Wyoming

Flows have been dropped to 1800cfs. Many local rivers and creeks are high and muddy but the Big Horn River is looking pretty good right now and fishing ain't too shabby either. Nymphing remains consistent, streamer fishing can be good, but there is quite a bit of floating moss. Not much for dry action right now but maybe we'll see some tricos soon? Feels like summer out here already.

Got a couple days open for the end of May and open dates in June are 2-7, 15-17, 19-22... trips are filling in quickly. Give us a call to book a float and catch some trout 307-480-8457

Weather's great, fishing's good...

...and flows have been dropped to 2350cfs +/-

Nymphing remains consistent with sow bugs and baetis nymphs. Dry fly fishing is pretty good most afternoons with BWOs and it seems like the streamer fishing is getting better with warmer water temps.

Plenty of days open for May if you wanna go fishing

weekend update

Flows are still around 3,000 cfs. Lots of mixed reports coming in from other fishermen, but most have not been doing very well. Our guides however are consistently catching fish both nymphing and with dries. Lots of fish in the 18-22" range... I can count on one hand the number of trout under 17" I've seen this year... lots of fat clean trout to be had if you know where to look and what to tie on the end of your line.

Larry with a nice big brown from yesterday's float trip

Still have a few days open for April... weather is finally looking nice. Alyssa and I will be out of the country May 1-9... back to Bajahaha..We have a couple guides covering for us during then and can definitely hook you up if ya wanna go fishing... Shoot us an email as we will have spotty coverage while we are traveling... bighorndrifters@gmail.com 

Bighorn River Update

Flows have been bumped up to 3000cfs. Snowpack is around 105% and the reservoir is about 75% full... With flows this high, this early in the season, it seems like we may have lower flows this summer than we saw last year.

Fishing is still pretty good though. Nymphing has remained consistent and quite a few fish rising most afternoons.

Tom with a respectable rainbow at Wedding of the Waters

Open dates for April are 8, 9, 10, 17-20, and 23-30.

Bighorn River Fishing Report - Thermopolis, WY

 Flows are now up to 2500cfs. Screwed the fishing up for a couple days but this week in fishing has been excellent with return clients and new friends. Our total trout population this year has suffered from last year's high water, but we are still catching plenty of fish, and plenty of big ones. Nymphing is still the most consistent way to catch fish right now but yesterday saw our first real hatch of BWO's and lots of trout up eating em on the surface. Streamer fishing is super spotty but ya might get a chance at a big one.

Even I get to catch one every so often

Josh out-fished his father with Alyssa on the oars and found this chunky Bighorn brown

Megan with one of many solid rainbows on her first fly fishing excursion

Ken played backseat clean-up 

...while Tim did his best to make sure the fish didn't make it past the front seat. 

And Mike hammered big bows all day

another awesome day on the Bighorn with Paul & Chris. Sunshine and rainbows

March is winding down, have a few more trips on the books. The first week of April has our boats empty, but not for long I'm sure.... dry fly fishing has begun!

Bighorn River Flows Update

Flow from Boysen Dam was raised to 2,000cfs a couple days ago. Floating moss screwed up the fishing for a couple days but things are back on track. Nymphing remains consistent with midge and a few sow bugs. Seeing handfuls of baetis adults, no fish looking up yet, but dry fly fishing should get good in a couple weeks.

The nice weather has brought all the boats out and a few "rogue" guides. Lots of folks out there doing the bright white gravel shuffle, but the high water should deter some of those folks from waltzing on the redds.

Had a cancellation for Sunday if somebody wants to jump in, we'll give ya a lil discount. Still plenty of days open for March and April is starting to fill in a bit.

see ya out there

open dates

March is filling in. Still have some holes in the calendar.. we have open dates March 10-12, 14, 16, 19-21, and 23-28. Give me a shout if ya wanna get in on one of these days... best time of year to be fishing the Big Horn... 307-480-8457

Nymphing remains very productive with midge and sow bugs and a few baetis nymphs starting to show up. No dry action yet but that should change by the end of the month. Getting a little bit of love on the streamer... olive or black. Flows are 1270cfs and the river should be going up to 2000cfs in the next week or two, though I haven't heard a specific date... same with the flush which usually happens the last week of March. Traffic on the river has been pretty light with one or two boats and most days we're the only boat out there which is a nice change of pace for this time of year.

Big Horn River Fishing Report - Thermopolis, WY

We've been on the water the last few days and the fishing has been pretty damn good. I'd say we were consistently hooking 20-40 fish depending on how many anglers were in the boat and how cold the weather got. The trout have been eating sow bugs and midge for us, but I'm not seeing any sow bugs in stomach samples, only midge... olive, black and cream. As I'm writing this the temps outside are barely 3degrees. Gonna be a cold week. Things seem to get warmer as we transition into March.

Ryan with a Big Horn Rainbow and a little sunshine on his shoulder

Flows are still around 1250cfs. Nymphing has been very consistent in the first couple miles of the river but things get a little spotty in the afternoon, I'm not sure if its time of day or location in the river.

Plenty of open dates in March and I'd really like to get a couple trips going at the end of February, weather permitting obviously. The North Fork Shoshone oughtta get to fishin' pretty good here in the next couple weeks for pre-spawn rainbows or Wyoming steelhead.

 Alyssa will be out of town Feb 25-March 2 on her annual steelhead sojourn with Brazda's Fly Fishing in Forks, WA, leaving me here to my own de(vices)... I'd love to go fishing especially if the weather man sticks to his guns and we see those 45-50degree days.

Keep warm.

On the water report

I could've swore i saw 50 degree days in the forecast for this week... I'm gonna blame it on this guy

 I did get a half-day trip in last week before the temps plummeted. We boated about a dozen of these, one was about 16" and the rest were 18"-22"... we probly lost just as many fishing small midge on light tippet... yikes. Stomach samples reveal a few sow bugs and tiny scuds but mostly midge larvae and pupae.

We've got a few trips going out this week, I'll be sure to report back.

Also this weekend... I think the Cody TU chapter is doing a river cleanup on Sunday, so there will be a lot of boats out there. And as much as I love to see the river cleaned up of trash and inner tubes, maybe we can leave a few tires and barrels in the middle of the river this year for trout structure, since we don't have big rocks or log jams...

See ya on the water!

Snowpack

Flows are still around 1250cfs. Fishing, of course, has been good. Still nymphing and some streamer action.

Snowpack this year is about 100% of normal, compared to last year at this time i think we were around 250%... so barring any major spring precipitation, we're looking at a typical runoff year which means more consistent fishing in June and July. Looks like my drought dances have finally paid off.

I have the next couple days open if anybody wants to go fishing, the weather looks great. Had some cancellations for early next week which is fine 'cuz its gonna be cooooold. Booked 14-18, Alyssa has a couple open days in there somewhere, and we are completely open Feb 19-28 and it looks like quite a few days in the upper 40s and mid 50s even during that time frame, so ya might wanna make it happen.

Also we updated the website a little bit, check out our Guide Service page as we have added some unique options available to our fishing clients this year.

February

Flows are around 1250cfs. Warmer weather the last few days has made fishing pretty damn good. and the river has been a ghost town lately. Maybe a boat or two... But the canyon up by the dam has been an absolute circus.

Lots of midge showing up in stomach samples and a few sow bugs. Attractors like worms and firebead bugs will also catch ya a few trout.

Looks like plenty of days in the 40s and even 50s coming up this month. Open dates for February: 4-10, 14, 15, 18-22.... let's go fishing. February can be some of the best fishing of the year on the Bighorn here in Thermopolis.. especially as it looks as though the worst of winter is behind us.

Fishing Report - Bighorn River - Thermopolis

Flows are around 1250cfs +/- and water temps are 40degrees +/- water clarity is fantastic and the fishing is good. Sow bugs, midge and a few worms.

Got some warmer days ahead..upper 30s to mid 40s. Offering $75 off all guide trips until February 1st.

Alyssa will be heading to the coast for some steelhead action at the end of the month, hosting a few clients with Brazda's Fly Fishing in Forks, WA. 3 days fully guided and 3 nights lodging, gourmet meals... $1500 per angler... She still has a couple slots open if anyone is interested, shoot us an email or give us a call.