Big Horn River -1000 Rivers in one

[wwelz]

I am writing this primarily for those of us who fish small streams and rivers. I grew up fishing tiny brooks about ten or fifteen feet wide. This was a wonderful learning experience but I was overwhelmed when I hit the big rivers in the west. The Bighorn is consistently running at 2500. The Farmington runs generally between 200 and 600. The transition from small river to large water requires a shift in thinking.The angler must shit from this

to this


The trick is to think o a big river as 1000 little brooks. Take time to cruise down big water just looking for spots like this to fish later. Every year I come back to the Big Horn I repeat this process . The river changes a lot each year.









I have found about thirty of these little spots that consistently produce one or two fish each . This can add up to a good days fishing. I am not an expert but I thought this would be helpful to others on the site. I will end this post with some fish candy.










Fish On

[AaronJasper]

That's an excellent post. A rock in a stream does the same thing whether it's on the Big Horn or the Farmington. It deflects water and creates different water velocities.

[wwelz]

Thanks Aaron - I spent the morning catching grasshoppers bringing them in my Camper and checking the colors of the naturals against my fly tying materials. There seems to be two main color schemes . One -tan and yellow the other tan and grey. People in camp probably want to have me checked out by the mental health department but what to heck. Here are my efforts . These are a rush job so the tying is sloppy. The first two are tied with floss the last one with fine chenille









I have been doing well in the deeper fast water with the stonefly pattern. I hpoe these will do better. I make the flies very heavy (1.5 grams to 2.5 grams) at home my heaviest anchors are 1.5 grams and mostly I use .85 grams. The extra weight helps compensate for the wind water speed and volume.

[wwelz]

I wanted to clarify the above post -I believe the woven stone fly works well here because the fish take it for a drowned grass Hopper.

[sipper]

" The transition from small river to large water requires a shift in thinking.The angler must 'shit" from this" quote from Welz

I have never been out west so I can only imagine how different the experience must be. If what you say is true then an angler should probably pack an extra pair of waders or maybe wet wade until one becomes accustomed to the bigger water. :-\ Or maybe bring a pack of depends...... ??? And some extra toilet paper I hope your experience out there isn't a Stinky one. .








I have found about thirty of these little spots that consistently produce one or two fish each . This can add up to a good days fishing. I am not an expert but I thought this would be helpful to others on the site. I will end this post with some fish candy.










Fish On
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[AaronJasper]

Those weaves look good! Maybe try some cranefly larva patterns for anchors there. The Barr's Cranefly should do very well in the sections of that stream below the Three Mile Access.

Sipper,

Have you ever been to the Big Horn? I remember when I stood on the bank there for the first time. I was in awe of the size of the river. It's about three times as wide as the West Branch. However, once that Ray Charles hit the water it was all a distant memory.

I think that to many fly fishermen a larger stream can be intimidating. I think that's the reason why many fly guys think that the perfect stream is 30-50 feet wide. The Farmington and Housatonic are huge rivers by most fly fishermen's standards.

[sipper]

AJ, No I have never been to the BH. I conveyed that in my post. I probably wouldn't know where to begin fishing it. I was simply giggling about his type error in which welz mistakingly says that the Angler must "shit." Reread it if ya missed it. Kind of funny the way it reads. I am not being hostile, just silly. Sorry, it just reads funny thats all. I can totally relate to the post. Ten years ago when I first moved up from the Croton Falls Outlet to the Farmington I remember feeling overwhelmed because of the size difference. At the time I strictly nymphed and an old timer told me to ignore the vast characteristics and break the river into small sections and focus on that and it became more simple. I was less overwhelmed and more confident when I thought of it as sections not one vast body of water.

[AaronJasper]

I just read it... He did type "shit." funny. I'll fix it when I get home.

[wwelz]

Sorry - My laptop had a stuck F key. No F jokes please. Anyway I fixed it. Thanks sipper for pointing out the problem. Funny that the spell check missed it.

[sipper]

That is some funny bullshift for sure, very nice trout btw. Out west in an RV!? Thats old school. Awsome. I M Jealous for sure.