Hatches on the Bighorn?

[FishingRookie]

I am headed to the bighorn next week and wanted to know if anyone had any information on any hatches up there? I tie my own flies so I am hoping to get a few tied up for the trip but I would like to know what they are keying in on. Thanks!

PM's are welcome if you don't want lurkers to know
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[montanaman]

Google the fly shops in Ft. Smith. They will all be accurate. Be ready for the Colorado invasion though....makes the MP seem wide open.

If you have time, or get frustrated with combat fishing, run over the border and fish the Tongue. Tie up some Parashute Ants and Yuk Bugs..likely catch Bass and Trout. Oh, and you will probably be the only person on the river.

Just a suggestion.
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[FishingRookie]

Thanks for the heads up! Is the bighorn ever not busy? Seems like every time I have floated it there have been at least 10 other boats within range
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[montanaman]

No! It's never not busy. Depends on what you're lookin' for. I used to fish it in the mid 80's when the owners opened it up in (I think '84). But by '88 there was too much traffic for me (my opinon).

I then decided to fish it in the winter to get away from the crowds..that lasted 'til about '92.

Now it's packed year around. It is only a 7 hour drive from Denver, so the the Coloradans kinda dominate.

Bless their hearts..the Denver crowd really helps the economy and I am all for it.

The Bighorn is a great fishery and can stand alot of pressure. I just choose other options.

My point was that within an hour drive you can have a "National Park" with nobody around.

The Tongue is one of several.
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[FishingRookie]

Well I finally made it out to the Horn yesterday and had a great day! I started out with dries but didn't get anything for the firs hour so then we all switched to nymphs and it took another hour or so to figure out which of the 20 flies suggested were the ones the fish wanted that day. I finally ended up going with my tried and true set up of a hares ear and a zebra midge and needed up hooking into about 8 fish in a row on a single little run. 2 of the fish were some of the biggest I have ever caught in my 5wt. After that we all went back to dries and managed a few more on hoppers as we got down to the take out at Bighorn.

The river was crazy busy but everyone was polite and did a good job staying out of each others way.
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[montanaman]

Right on! Glad you are having a great time.

Would love to see some pic's if you took any. Beautiful country over there!
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[FishingRookie]

I wish I had some pictures. I brought the camera but the battery was dead from our trip to the zoo the previous day. I do love that stretch of river though, very beautiful and worth the float whether you catch fish or not...but that's almost impossible on the Horn.
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