Bighorn River - Montana, USA

Book excerpt: Normal 0 The Bighorn River, which runs through the Crow Indian Reservation, opened to the general fishing public in 1981 from action taken by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Bighorn River in Montana begins below the Yellow Tail Dam and After-Bay. The After-Bay was constructed to hold the super saturated Nitrogen water, created by peek power generation from Yellowtail Dam, allowing the Nitrogen too dissipate before entering the Bighorn River. At times the trout below the After-Bay experience high levels of Nitrogen and the trout get Nitrogen Narcosis, the “Bends”; this can decimated the trout fishery. The Bighorn River flows northerly through a wide valley that is heavily farmed and there are irrigation diversion in the lower river divert large volumes of water from the river. The highest trout populations and fishing crowds are in the first 13-miles of river below the Yellowtail After-Bay. The species composition, Rainbow and Brown Trout, in the Bighorn River have fluctuated wildly since the 1981 trout fishing opener. The latest Rainbow Trout population decline is due to Whirling Disease infestation throughout the Bighorn River. The Bighorn River is a large western river with very few places a person can walk across the width of the river. The water is generally clear, except during run-off when water is released over Yellowtail Dam. The shoreline along the river and the many islands are filled with large Cottonwood Trees. The fishing on the river is either exceptional or it is poor. Some of the runs below a riffle-run may contain over a thousand-trout in just a few hundred-yards of river. Many of the guides on the river have their client’s fish nymphs through these large pods of trout. Fishing in this manner can get anyone into hooking fish. The reason is, the trout are stacked in the run like cordwood and while the trout is gilling for oxygen their mouths open and the tippet is pulled through their mouths and the fly inadvertently sticks the fish in the mouth. I have observed this many times while snorkeling. Normal 0 Normal 0 Normal 0 This books purpose is to provide factual data and useful information needed to experience a successful day fishing for Wild Trout in the Rocky Mountains. It is not uncommon to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the pursuit of fishing for Wild Trout. This book can provide the needed information for a successful fishing trip: water temperature, water level, water turbidity, air temperature, weather conditions, daily hatches, stomach analysis from Wild Trout landed, “GDB” flies fished, fly fishing presentations, trout species, trout lengths and geographic location. An Outfitter or Guide will charge you $300.00 to as high as $500.00 for a day of fishing but by reading this book you will be able to catch Wild Trout on your own. The “GDB” Flies used to catch and land all the Wild Trout contained in this book were “Originated” and “Hand-Tied” by the Author.