The water is still off-color coming out of Afterbay, but the nymphing has been improving on the lower river and streamer fly fishing has been productive in the mid-river runs.

Cover the deep water, whether nymphing or streamer fishing right now on Montana's Bighorn River.

Nymphing with San Juan worm variations followed by a sowbug or orange scud has been the best. Long leaders with a lot of added weight are needed to get to the fish holding in the deep, clean water. Typical rigs are 10' in length with 8' between the first fly and the strike indicator. It's not a bad idea to rig up a pogo rig - if that's "your thing" as well.

Heavy sink tip lines are essential to cover those mid-river, deep runs where the best action has been happening. Sparse streamers and leech imitations tend to work better for our Montana fishing guides this time of year than the large, articulated-style flies we fish most of the year.