Montana: Bighorn River Trout 9-7 through 9-9-09

**Date / Time:**9-7-09 through 9-9-09 Location: Bighorn River, Montana The Characters: Kory Kapaloski, Richie Farino, Bill Dawson, Ned Hutchinson etc. Weather: Partly cloudy,  mostly sunny Water Temp: Mid 60s or so Water Level / Tide: Moderate I think around 3000 Water Clarity/Quality: Good with a little green tint. Fair amount of grass in the water. Moon Phase: Last Quarter Fishing: Left NYC around 4:30 a.m. an flew into Denver for the fly fishing retailer show and got picked up by Bill Dawson (our Sage etc rep), Cody Rolph and his father Darrel Rolph. They recently purchased the Bighorn River lodge about 3 years prior and wanted us to see it to spread the word and send some customers from the east coast.  http://www.bighornriverlodge.com/home.html . They flew us up in their private jet which was quite the treatment. First time for me. After a quick stop in Ft. Smith for mickey dees and some brew, we got to the lodge and were on our way to an evening float by about 4 p.m. or so. Floated from the 1st access below the dam to the lodge. Richie and I were with a guide named Matt. Good guy. We started throwing hoppers with Richie up front and me in the back. I wanted to try the fat alberts that I had tied since they do so well on the Green I figured they would crush here as well. Immediately started getting eats and landed a couple. Richie was having a slower start and eventually decided he would rather fish the streamer. We switched positions and I hooked a few more. He had a fish or two violently slash at his streamer so we both went to the streamer. We started getting them pretty good, he had a white of his own on and I was throwing goldie locks. We landed several nice fish and were having a good time. We went back to the hopper and got a few more on that but as the sun got lower that action slowed so we went back to the streamer and banged em pretty good. Don’t know how many or how big but plenty of 16-18” maybe one or two bigger. Mostly browns, but a few bows in the mix including one good one about 18”. Good day. Day 2: Fished with Bill Dawson and Carlo, the lodge manager. Started at the dam and floated all the way to the lodge. Started out throwing streamers, but fish were only slightly interested. Part of that was probably the water type being slow. We did get a few chases and a few eats, but wasn’t really happening. Found a few risers on a bank and got out. The bank was steep and it wasn’t the best spot to fish, I think we got one to eat and spooked the rest and decided to move to an easier spot to wade. Got down to the put in from the previous day and fish were up on the opposite bank. Waded and fished to them, but put most of them down and never really got it going. Started floating again and decided to go back to the hopper. The first fish we saw rising immediately ate it. The fish started to really key on the hopper and every riser we saw rushed over and engulfed the hopper. The riffles and pockets produced several more very nice fish while blind casting covering water. The fish were on it pretty good and we hammered them pretty good. I think I fished the streamer again toward the end and got some good fish, but don’t really remember. The hopper fishing was awesome though and we had some killer eats and some great fish up to around 20” or so but healthy, good fighting, great looking fish. Decent number of bows but mostly browns. Day 3: Floated single with another guide, Matt since one of our party, Ned left early. Started out throwing the streamer, but they weren’t on it really good yet. Got a few, but not really happening. Found some sippers on one bank and rigged for them. Rowed down and got one on a cripple bwo i think. Banged two or three more, a few were nice fish up to 18” or so. Then let Matt fish and he got a couple. We made a few pases on that bank and got several fish. Made our way down river and found a pod of fish on the bank, got out to fish them and they were going to town in this little pocket. Several very nice fish up. Matt fished to them first while I filmed, but he couldn’t get them to eat as it was difficult to see the fly.