March?

Cold start to March here on the Big Horn in Thermopolis. I think we're topping out at 4 degrees this afternoon. Should be the last of the cold weather as temps warm up into the 40's next week.

We are back from our steelhead adventure in Washington and boy did we have a good time...and of course Alyssa outfished me. But we are excited to start fishing on our home river again, as soon as the ice jams melt.

Open days for March: 10-15, 17-24 and a couple other dates here and there.

April is filling in fast... open dates April 2-10, 14, 20, 21, 25-30

Book before April and receive our 2018 rates $450 for 2/full day float $350 for one.

Hope to see ya on the water soon!

Bighorn River Fishing Report & Hosted Trips

Wow. No blog post since August. I apologize. We had a super busy end of summer and fall/winter. Fishing was good all the way thru November...most days... but August was probably the highlight of our season. But for now I'll expand on our recent fishing here on the Bighorn River. It has been okay. Definitely looking for warmer days following warmer nights to get the trouts active. Our hot bugs have been Ray Charles and midge patterns. The flow is around 1000cfs which is perfect. Slower, deeper runs and long leaders are the ticket. The bite window seems to be between 11am and 2pm. We are booking trips for the rest of January, but we will be heading to the coast of Washington for all of February to do some steelhead fishing. We are booking trips for March right now and it is starting to fill in... perhaps the best time of year to catch numbers of fish. Our snowpack right now is around 85%, so barring any late winter snow storms and/or major spring rains we should have normal flows for April, May and June.

In December we were fortunate enough to host some of our clients to Christmas Island for bonefish and giant trevally. We are already planning another hosted trip June 19-26 at the Lagoon View Resort. 7 nights lodging, 6 days guided fishing, all meals, $2400/person. If you can't make it for the summer trip, we will be going back in December. That is perhaps the best thing about Christmas Island... it fishes consistently year-round. Being as it sits so close to the equator it is constantly 85 degrees.

Chris & Alyssa hoisting one of many milkfish caught. These fish fight incredibly hard

A very nice bonefish from the flats of the lagoon

our guy Chris with a beefy GT

Sunrise over the lagoon, running out to Huff Dam

I have become obsessed with these fish. it's a tug-o-war when hooked

this was the first GT landed... right in front of our clients as the boat came to pick us up

Cigars, rum, and bitters after an awesome day of fishing with Georgie, Rand, Steve and Dr. Bill

Traditional outrigger canoe and $10,000 worth of rods & reels

Rainbow Runner, excellent sashimi. you don't have to go far to catch the bluewater species.

Bluefin Trevally, perhaps the prettiest of flats species

Chris hooked up with a milkfish

We have 6 spots open for these hosted trips to Christmas Island, email me bighorndrifters@gmail.com or give me a call 307-480-8457 if youre interested.


Also as a side note... our rates for guide trips will be going up this year to stay consistent with area outfitters, so book now before we jack the prices up in April.

We'll see ya on the river!

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.

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.

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!

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.

The warm weather didn't last very long....

...But we took advantage of it the last few days. And fishing was pretty good. Mostly sow bugs but getting a few on the worm a few on the scud and some midge and even a couple leech eaters. It's kinda like shooting fish in a barrel this time of year, just keep working those deep slow holes and when the bite stops...change it up.

Jeff with a fat slab out of the "Hog Hole"

April is filling in fast. Plenty of days open in March which is my favorite dry fly month. But from now thru February is a great time to rack up the body count on pre spawn rainbows. Give us a call and let's make a deal for cold weather fishing.

Bighorn River - Winter Fly Fishing Report - Thermopolis

Got some warmer air coming in this week,  highs in the 40s?

Alyssa is out on the coast chasing steelhead for the next month and has left me at the tying desk working on orders. But I'd like to be working on the river with this seemingly spring type weather. We are offering winter discounts... call for pricing and we'll make a deal.

I personally haven't been on the river in over a week, but last time I was out big sow bugs and/or Ray Charles in #16 and #14 were crushing it. Little red midge larva and black or olive pupas were showing up in stomach samples and the fish would eat em, but man they just keep hammering the sow bugs.

The river below Longwell is still pretty iced up, but everything else is open and should be fishing great. Flow out of Boysen is around 915cfs. Reservoir is 86% full and snow pack is around 150%? Good water year.

April bookings are starting to fill in and a few in March, but late January and February can provide some of the best catching all year! And since Alyssa is out of town we've got our very good friend Jeff Jennings (of Michigan legend and Montana lore) filling in on a couple trips ...might as well fish with the best...

First trip of the New year

Fished with Wheeler yesterday. It was cooooold. But the fishing turned out to be really good. Nymphing was consistent all day and we even had pretty good action on the streamer.

Looks like the temps warm up next week
C'mon out and shake off those shack nasties

Winter Fly Fishing on the Bighorn River, Thermopolis, Wyoming

Wedding of the Waters - Winter Fly Fishing Report

Fishing is great if it's over 30 degrees. Trout are crushing big sow bugs and some midge are showing up in stomach samples. But they are still eating attractors like firebead anything and worms. Concentrate on slow deep water with long leaders. 

River is running clear & clean @ 915cfs.

Watch for ice on the lower river. It looked pretty blocked up the other day at Rainbow Terrace. 

Bighorn River - Winter Fly Fishing - Report

Flow is around 915cfs.

Fishing has been fair to good. Cold water temps have the fish moving into deeper holes. Nymphing has been consistent with sow bugs, midge in the morning, baetis in the afternoon and worms. A few fish are eating dries. And the brown spawn is just about wrapped up.

Got a cold snap hitting us this week which will make fishing tough and unenjoyable. Temps next week climb back up into the 40s... looks like a good time to slip away for a little fishing before the holidays.

Winter Fly Fishing - Big Horn River - Thermopolis, Wyoming 

Winter Steelhead Fishing

Winter fishing

We went from 70 degrees and sunny to 6 inches of snow and temps barely breaking the freezing point almost over night... kinda shut the bite off. Add 20 mph winds and it made for a tough weekend for anglers.

But it warmed up a bit yesterday and the clouds locked in the warmth. Anthony came out from cali for a couple days and got to see the ying and the yang.

He ended up landing two 22"s back to back

First he  landed this big fat rainbow,  taped at 22x12

And two casts later tied into this Big Horn brown. We rode him down river about 100 yards. Had Anthony's Sage One 5wt corked the whole time.

Winter is a great time to fish the Bighorn here in Wyoming.  Pick a nice day and jump in. You can always warm up in the hot springs.

Half Day Special

Did an afternoon half day float and we probably landed 15 fish on the dry with shots at many more. Incredible hatch today even in the wind... in fact I think the wind helped as there were way too many bugs on the water.

 I'm so sick for dry fly fishing right now and I don't have much on the books for the next couple weeks.  If a single dry fly guy wanted to do an afternoon float hunting heads, on the water at 1ish and off between 5 and 6ish, I'd give him a deal... $250... flies and hot soup included. Hit me up, now is the time.

First fish this afternoon right across from the ramp.  All day, please

And boat traffic has been relatively light. I attribute it to shitty weather. We've got more cold rain and snow in the forecast but it's good for blue wings. Dress warm.

Open dates

Had a couple guys cancel on me for the weekend which is too bad because the weather looks excellent mid to uppers 50s and sunshine and fishing has been stellar. Give me a call if ya wanna jump in.  $350 full day 2 anglers lunch included. Also have plenty of days open next month... should start seeing bwo's about mid March. As awesome as the nymphing has been lately 40-70 fish days, I'm really looking forward to fishing dries and yanking big browns from under the olive trees.

Double date with the Muellers

Had a great Valentines day float with our friends Geoff and Kat... it was gals vs guys and while the gals hooked more fish I'm pretty sure ours were bigger.

Kat and Alyssa gettin it done

Fish were flying today

Tomorrow is a down day. Sleeping in and tying bugs, got a couple big streamer orders to fill this week. Booked Tuesday, I'll let ya know how it goes. We've  got Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday open. Still running the deep discount for winter which is crazy because fishing is so fuckin good right now I should be charging folks double.

See ya on the river.

On the water report

Pretty busy out there for mid week but it looked like most boats were doing well. Streamer fishing started off with a bang and got a couple of these guys

But the action didn't stick so half way thru the day we started nymphing and hooked about 40 of these

Fishing is on feugo right now and frankly you're doing yourself a disservice by not hopping in the front of my boat tomorrow... especially since we're still offering full days for 2 anglers at $350.

Fishing Report - Bighorn River, Thermopolis, Wyoming

Flows out of Boysen Reservoir are 825cfs. Water temps are cold. Fishing has been good. Catching a lot of nice fat rainbows nymphing. Red worm and a natural sow bug have been our go-to this week. Other patterns that will work are gray Ray Charles #16, red midge larva #20-22, and black zebra midge or other comparable midge pupa patterns in #18-22. Fish with long leaders (9 foot) and heavy lead and focus on the deep slow water. Fish are stacked in certain holes, take your time in the good water. Watch for ice flows on the lower river north of town and icy boat ramps. Cold snap comes in the next few days but it looks like things will warm up next week. We are still running our off-season special...$100 bucks off full day trips...on the water at 9:30 or 10 and off by 4:00, fishing during the warmest part of the day...lunch included.

This guy zipped around the pool like a steelhead