Veni, Vidi, Vici Trutta Magna

Just in case your Latin is rusty, the translation of this Bighorn Trout Shop t-shirt is “I came, I saw, I conquered large trout.” It’s on the back of the shirt along with our logo. And this sums up the experience of many anglers of late. Fishing has been outstanding. Maybe you’ve heard that they’re bringing the water flows down. I’m not sure how long it will stay this way, but we’ll enjoy it while we can. I expect them to bring the flows back up to around 14,000 cfs before it’s all over.

Water temperatures are about perfect— 57 degrees at 3-Mile Access. The trout are very active, and many of them are moving into faster water; not the heaviest current, but areas with a fairly stiff current speed. Look for those glides where the bottom is clean, about 2 to 5 feet deep, and the current is medium fast. Trout are often stacked up in these areas. We’ve been fishing a variety of sowbug patterns, but one tied with a light grey synthetic dubbing and “Thin Skin” over the back has been especially good. Size 16 has been the best. You don’t have to throw two 3/0 shot anymore. You can even go back to the tungsten putty in a lot of places.

PMD duns are being sighted on a regular basis and anglers have been taking a few fish on dries below BH Access. Expect some decent dry fly fishing on the upper river soon, at least during these reduced flows. When they crank it back up, who knows.