The Bighorn River, in Montana, is a well-known tailwater fishery located in the south-central part of the state that is popular with fly anglers from around the world. Although it is not one of our “local fisheries,” we do still guide on the river from time to time and make a few trips over there every year to fish on own, with friends and family. This unique fishery is currently home to some impressive fish numbers and an increasing number of larger trout as well.

Nick Bacon and I just returned from a few days of fishing the Bighorn River during the “ramping” up of spring flows resulting from upstream snowmelt and rain. The increased flows are necessary right now as Yellowtail Reservoir (the source for this stretch of the Bighorn River) is nearly full and managers need to make room for the water coming in from Wyoming.

The Bighorn River Alliance is a non-profit group that engages with stakeholders throughout the watershed - including the various agencies, anglers, recreationists, and landowners – to both monitor and help shape the management of this amazing resource. They are actively developing new technology to learn more about the fishery through innovative monitoring programs. They develop and implement habitat improvement plans including reconnecting dozens of river channels have become isolated from the mainstem over time.

I have been asked to support hundreds of environmental non-profit groups over the years. Although many of them do great work, I prefer to support those that operate on small budgets and have specific areas of work rather than the larger groups that dabble in a wide range of issues. The Bighorn River Alliance is one that I am happy to support in terms of financial contributions and I encourage every fly angler that has - or will - fish this Montana river to visit their website and consider becoming a member.

How was the fishing on our trip? Nymphing was ok with San Juan Worms and Sowbugs. Increasing daily flows meant that we needed to increase the length of our leaders and amount of weight to effectively reach the fish. Rainbows spawn late over there (like now) so there are lots of fish on Redds – especially in the upper 3-Mile section. We found most of our fish in the fast, shallow water around the inside bends and ledges. Judging from the water predictions, I would wait until early July before heading back over there.