Montana in September?

[Forrest6775]

Looking forward to trying Moose Drool, my buddy's been talking about it for a while. Mentioned Big Hole Brewing Co(?) Diablo too.

[twinbridges]

Wade fishing on the Big HOle can be very good.  I will start downstream near Twin Bridges and head upstream.

The High Road Bridge area just outside of town can be great.  Work downstream from the bridge.  It looks better upstream but the better fishing is downstream.

Burma road.  Just take the Burma Road.  Fishing at Pennington Bridge can be very good.  Heading toward Glen you will pass some great water on public lands that you can get to and there are fish.  At the Glen bridge there is good fishing and a campground.  At Brownes Bridge there is good fishing and a campground.

If you are at Melrose and go across the bridge at the put in follow the signs to the river.  It says to Maidenrock but that is not correct as the put in is known as fish and game, but nevertheless, after a couple of miles of rough road you will come back parrallel to the river and there is some good fishing along that area.

Up above Divide at the bridge is the area upstream to the Butte intake that is wade fishing and can be good.  On up a bit the river will be to your right and you can hop down the bank and some good fishing.

[twinbridges]

The good thing about this is you will see the river go from one passing through the valley and then through the canyon and then becoming more alpine in nature.  It truly is an incredible 160 miles of freestone river.

Enjoy

[Woolly Bugger]

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Raynolds Pass, Woolly Bugger out in the middle with the big dogs 

[twinbridges]

Big Hole wade fishing
High Road Bridge at Twin Bridges
Pennington Bridge
Along Burma Road
Glen Access w/ Campground
Brownes Bridge w/ campground
Along road to Fish and Game access near Melrose
Divide Bridge
Between Divide and Wise River along road

[phg]

It was Craig Matthews, at Blue Ribbon Flies that told me that the left side below $3 Bridge was private.  I figure he should know.  I didn't see any Posted signs, but why take chances? 

We drove by Reynold's Pass several times (almost daily), but we never tried to fish right there.  The water was just a tad deep for wading,  I don't think you could have gotten out that far when we were there.  It's highly variable, though, you just don't know from week to week what the wading conditions will be.

The fish are definitely bigger than what we are used to.  Anything under 14" is small, and 16" to 18" is only average.  Whitefish are fun to catch too, although I wouldn't target them.  The Madison between Hebgan Lake and Quake lake is another good stretch.  Reasonably good access and fairly wade-able. 

We used a lot of local flies, as well as a few standards.  In Sept, hoppers should be good.  I used a lot of double nymph rigs, like a size 12 hare's ear on top and a size 18 red serendipity on the bottom.  Lots of weight to get it down, because that water is really moving! 

If I weren't going to Alaska with Al, this year, I'd be planning a return trip to MT. 

[Woolly Bugger]

Paul the water was way up when I was there, I can't recall the CFS but it was well above average due to the temps. Nobody was wading more than a foot or two from the bank.

I found a gravel bar than led down into the center of the river. I would have ended up in Ennis if I took a spill.  The water was huge and it was tragic when I hooked into big fish, they just took off in the current and I was powerless to stop them, but their blistering runs and acrobatic jumps final escape are memories I won't forget.

[jwgnc]

[It was Craig Matthews, at Blue Ribbon Flies that told me that the left side below $3 Bridge was private.  I figure he should know

Absolutely follw Craig's guidance.  My apologies for providing stale information.

By the way - that Woolly Bugger wades into some soup, eh?

[twinbridges]

Any of the bridges on the Big Hole are pretty good and some have campgrounds.  Along the Burma Road is good and some is public land so access is no problem.

So, High Road Bridge, Pennington Bridge, Glen Bridge (campground), Browne's Bridge 9campground), Melrose Bridge (campground), Maidenrock Bridge, Divide Bridge, not Jerry's Creek Bridge.

Enjoy