Multiple Hatches on the Big Hole River: Butte and Bozeman Outdoor Report
By Matt Schauer

Posted: July 14, 2012

Hi, it’s Angie here from Bob Ward & Sons, & don’t you just LIVE for this time of year on the rivers in the Butte & Bozeman areas?

In BUTTE outdoor report, it’s HOT, the rivers are getting LOW, but everything is hatching, so you’ve got a wide variety of choice at present! Goldenstones, Sallies and Caddis are rampant on the BIG HOLE RIVER (shown in the picture above), & a few green hoppers have even been seen…add to that a couple other terrestrials like bees & ants, & you can’t miss! Deep Creek & California Creek are the championship places to head at the moment. Stick to smaller sizes on the BIG HOLE & we’d go in the early hours to avoid the baking heat! Goldenstones are also peaking on the BEAVERHEAD presently, & are especially successful at Grasshopper Creek, the current “hot spot”. It’s Copper Bobs or Pheasant Tails on the JEFFERSON RIVER, or dip anything in the YELLOW range. GEORGETOWN LAKE has a crazy-good PMD & Damselfly hatch ongoing, & with the whole lake open now, it’s time to light out for THAT territory! Rainbow Rapallas, Mepps, & red-gold Panther Martins are all cool choices at Georgetown, too! Are you a young angler, wanting to become a world-class fly fisherman? Applications are still available at your Butte Bob Wards for The Clark Fork Watershed Education Program’s fly-fishing camp for young anglers, ages 14-17, at Camp Watanopa on Georgetown Lake, in early August. Deadline for application is July 16! Last week we reported that the fee is $30, but have since learned it is actually $50 for the 3-day workshop–still positively affordable! We hope to see you there.

In the BOZEMAN area, the flows are down & the Salmonflies pretty much over on the UPPER & LOWER MADISON, & on the GALLATIN. Time to risk a few terrestrials…ants & bees are good choices! Fish don’t want to munch a lot in the extreme heat, so fish EARLY & OFTEN! PMDs, Caddis & Sallies are still GRAND go-tos, & the “folks in the know” are predicting an early Spruce Moth explosion, so good things are still to come! The YELLOWSTONE is fishin’ at its BEST now, just about everything throwm at the fish is working, but Goldenstones seem to be a feast of choice. One of the Bozeman store’s expert anglers floated in a tube around the willows at the upper end of HYALITE, stripping streamers, and nabbed a number of cutthroats…he hit the reservoir early last Saturday! Pick yourself up a float tube at Bob Wards and trip on up to HYALITE….the day awaits! The Salmonflies are thick in YELLOWSTONE PARK right now, especially on the MADISON & GIBBON…pick up a Park Fishing Permit at Bob Wards and see the Park in all its glory!

Start planning now to attend the Bob Wards 8th Annual Shooters Sunday event, Aug 5th from 10 am to 4 pm…FREE admission, & $2.50 for tickets to shoot…each ticket is good for 3 rifle, 5 handgun or 6 shotgun rounds! Details can be had at the Butte Bob Wards…this is an event you can’t miss! Meantime, get out on that water! It’ll do you some good! We’ll be back next week, folks!

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