At the end of those two days, fishing was so good we canceled our plans and stayed on the Bighorn. All the motels were full in Fort Smith, so we slept wherever we could. One night we slept in a tent that belonged to a guide, and another night we slept in our car. The fishing was so good we rarely thought of the kinks in our necks, or where we would sleep the next night.

It was August; the morning Tricorythodes hatches were simply unbelievable, and the evening black caddis hatches were, well you had to be there to believe it. Fish were up everywhere, and not just singles or doubles, but pods of fish. Browns that averaged 16 inches or longer and rainbows that pushed the 20-inch mark fed eagerly on the thousands of spent Trico spinners covering the water's surface.

The next two weeks was like living in a fantasy world of hatches and strong, hard-fighting fish. That first trip to the Bighorn was more than ten years ago, and we now like to think of ourselves as regulars on the river. We return every season to float and wade the Best in the West.

The Best in the West
The Bighorn is a tailwater fishery located in the south central part of Montana. The river, as most fisherman know it, starts as it exits the Yellowtail Dam on the Crow Indian Reservation near Hardin. It's the next 13 miles of water below the dam that is the most popular and sees the heaviest angling pressure.

Why is the Bighorn so good? For starters, according to Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) biologists, the river in the first 13 miles below Yellowtail Dam averages over 5,000 catchable trout per mile, a conservative estimate according to some local guides. With very few exceptions, this is nearly twice as many catchable trout per mile than in any other trout stream in Montana.

One must also take into consideration the average size and growth rate. A 6-inch rainbow in the spring will be a 12-inch fish in the fall. The average four-year-old fish approaches 20 inches and is thick and broad shouldered. Lest you question these figures, they are documented by H. R. Stevenson's masters thesis from Montana State University. This is the standard for the quality of fish in the river, not the exceptional few. There are lots of them and some of them are very large.

How can this be? The most obvious reason is the Yellowtail Dam's impact on the fishery today and the more or less year-round moderate weather making it possible to cast to rising fish throughout most of the year. The Yellowtail Dam was completed in 1967. And unlike many dams, this one came complete with an afterbay which favorably smooths out peak-power-demand discharges from Yellowtail, thus insuring stable flows in the river while moderating water temperatures, further contributing to its desirability as a home to trout.

Also contributing favorably to the river's success is a high alkalinity in the neighborhood of pH 7.4-7.8, which sets the stage for boundless numbers of freshwater invertebrates that call the Bighorn home. As the river flows across the Bighorn Basin from northern Wyoming, it eventually meanders into deep limestone canyons. From one end of the Bighorn Canyon to the other, the river is constantly being enriched by the very rock through which it flows.

Prior to the dam's construction the Bighorn was basically a prairie river and the fish population consisted mostly of various warmwater species. Small populations of brown trout were present near the mouths of some of the feeder streams. Brown trout have never been planted in the Bighorn, so the huge current population may have come from this original small population.

As the new reservoir created by the Yellowtail Dam filled, the MDFWF began a vigorous stocking of 105,000 cutthroat trout and 500,000 rainbow trout. Over the years many more hundreds of thousands of rainbows were planted, though the stocking of cutthroat was discontinued in 1972. The original rainbow was the Arlee strain from the Arlee, Montana, state hatchery. The Arlee is a fall spawner and spawning in the fall did not seem to work for the rainbows in the Bighorn. The Arlee was eventually replaced with ancestors of the current rainbow population. The last rainbows were stocked in 1986. The river now enjoys a spring-spawning, highly successful strain of rainbow which apparently competes successfully with the river's ubiquitous brown trout.

River Access
The river flows through the Crow Reservation where tribal laws prevail. Unless otherwise designated, anglers must remain in the river channel below the high water lines. Wading anglers will find limited access to the river at the three available launch areas starting at the afterbay, followed by the first take out at the 3 mile access, and finally down river to the Bighorn or 13 mile take out.

There is little question to the value of floating the river in a drift boat, raft, or canoe because they can get you to the fish. It's not to say that you have to spend the day fishing from the boat although some do. Our plan is usually to stop and wade whenever we see rising fish or a favorite section of water that we may want to work with a nymph or streamer. The Bighorn's bottom is wader friendly so it's pretty easy to get around. It's fun to explore the many side channels and the back side of the islands, some of the best fish are often found in some of the most unlikely places.

Bighorn Hatches
The fish on the Bighorn can at times be difficult to catch and although you can sometimes chuck a Woolly Bugger at the river bank and end up with the fish of the day, more often than not, you play the game by the rules of the trout. One must look deeper into what makes the river tick and learn its secrets.

The professional guides on the Bighorn are among the best in the business. To guide on the 'Horn effectively one must be an angling generalist well versed in spring-creek tactics as well as able to cope with the mysteries of a large and often complex river. Success hinges on learning the secrets of the river, the hatches, and the techniques required to catch these fish.

Spring: Tiny Dry Flies
The fishing season gears up early on the Bighorn. By St. Patrick's Day, human activity on the river is increasing as the days grow warmer. At this time of year, if you examine the water closely, you'll see midges--millions of them. The midges are one of only six or so insects that account for 87 percent of the invertebrate life in the river.

The prolific midge hatches on the Bighorn keep the fish feeding on the surface for hours, but they are challenging. The adult midges will often cluster together and the fish greedily slurp in the balls of insects. A light tippet, and and a carefull presentation will solve most of the riddle, but you also need a fly pattern you feel confident in.

Our friend George Kelly, solved the problem for us a few years back by showing us a cluster midge pattern tied on a #16-18 hook that included a black parachute wing for better visibility. George's cluster midge not only imitated the naturals but with the black post wing gave us a pattern that we could see. Other effective patterns for this hatch include subsurface midge pupae, Griffith Gnats, and small Parachute Adams.

Another insect that begins to show up a little later in the spring is the Baetis, or Blue-winged Olive. this is truly a "super-hatch" and anglers across the country travel to the bighorn to experience it. While Baetis seem to be cyclical and are more plentiful some years more than others, the years of plenty provide many memorable days. Blue-winged Olives love bad weather, and you'll catch more fish on dry flies if your trip happens to coincide with cloudy, rainy, or better yet, snowy weather. Hang a small #18 Pheasant Tail nymph under your dry fly if the fish refuse the dun. Sometimes the trout appear to be eating dry flies, but are in fact, selectively keying on emerging nymphs.

Summer: PMDs and Caddis
As spring moves into summer, the cottonwoods show their leaves and the hillsides come alive with new green grasses. At this time of year, anglers will be watching for two trout favorites, the PMD or Pale Morning Dun and the little yellow stonefly or Yellow Sally.

Most years, PMDs show up between July 15 and August 1. When the hatch is on, the dry-fly fishing can range from incredible to incredibly frustrating. A realistic PMD Dun will catch fish by the dozens one day, and get nothing but refusals the next.

Don't put blinders on just because you had good success with a certain fly or technique last year, or even yesterday. The trout will key on certain stages of the hatch on different days, or more commonly, during different parts of the day. You should carry PMD nymphs, emergers, duns, and spinners in your fly box, and constantly reevaluate what the trout are feeding on through the course of the day.

Just as the PMDs and stoneflies begin to wane, Black Caddis show up. These caddis hatches have to be experienced to be believed. Their sheer number is mind-boggling. The air literally vibrates with their presence.

The most important thing to remember about Black Caddis is that they actively swim to the surface to hatch, and they also swim back to the bottom of the river to lay their eggs. Often, in the late afternoon and evenings, you will see a good hatch and mating flight going on at the same time.


Black Caddis swim to the surface to hatch, and then they swim back to the bottom to lay their eggs. A variety of tactics and patterns are required to match each phase of the caddis "hatch."

To match the swimming caddis, swing a small soft hackle wet fly through the riffles, and hang on! Most anglers, however, won't be distracted by blind-fishing a wet fly when there are trout rising in the slow eddying water along the banks.

To match the hatching adults (drying their wings after their swim to the surface) use a CDC Black Caddis or some other high-riding pattern. During a mating flight, the trout will usually key on dead, spent adults gathering in the back eddies, and a low-riding pattern like a Henryville Special, or Mike Lawson's Spent Partridge Caddis, are your best bet.

Fall: Tricos and Buttery Browns

The heavy Trico hatches of autumn are the most consistent, and dependable emergences on the river.

Sometime in August, the light begins to change, signaling that summer's end is near. The change is subtle, but to those who spend a lot of time on the river, it is apparent. It is now Trico time, the highlight of summer dry-fly fishing. Once this great hatch begins, spinners fall every morning like clockwork, day after day, sometimes for as long as a two months. This is the stuff memories are made of.

The challenge of a Trico hatch on this river is competing with the huge numbers of naturals on the surface. Often, your fly will be only one of dozens, or hundreds of insects in a trout's field of vision. Why should he take your fly over any of the others? Many anglers just keep casting away, hoping that eventually, their number will come up.

This tactic will get you some fish, but there are ways to improve your odds. First, most fish will have a rhythm. They don't take every fly that passes over. A hungry fish may take every other fly, slurping every two seconds, but most fish have a much slower rhythm, breaking the surface every 5 to 30 seconds. Watch each fish closely, understand his rhythm, and you can anticipate when he will rise next. Time your cast correctly, and you've just increased your odds of success 200%.

Tricos continue into the fall, but the dry-fly fishing sometimes falls off because of the "turnover" in the reservoir, and the resulting discharge of turbid water. This happens when the surface of the lake turns cold in the fall. The colder water sinks toward the bottom of the lake carrying with it the weeds and algae accumulated through the summer. Eventually, this soup passes through the turbines, and in bad years, it turns the normally crystal-clear Bighorn into a nearly unfishable mess. No one can predict when, or if the reservoir will turn over, but it most often happens in September or early October when the night temperatures drop below freezing. Fortunately turbid water does not occur every fall, and when the river is clean there is no lovelier time to fish the Bighorn.

By the time November rolls around, the river is clear again, and the fish are rising to Autumn Baetis or midges. For some, this is the time of year to get out your "big rod" and work the long runs above and below the weed beds, casting a big streamer as far as strength and technique will allow.

Winter: Fingerless Gloves and #22 Midges
Montana winters can be brutally cold but because the Bighorn is a tailwater, the trout feed every day of the year. Many Bighorn regulars watch the weather, and head for the river when the forecast calls for above-freezing temperatures. Most winter anglers fish the first 3 miles below the dam, although the river stays open all the way to the Bighorn Access 13 miles downstream. Work a streamer slowly across a deep slow pool or nymph with small midge patterns for best results..

At both ends of the winter season, the midge hatches are heavy, and in November, and again in March, the weather can be bearable--sometimes even pleasant--and the fish will come to the surface for a carefully presented Griffith's Gnat or other midge cluster dry fly. A Thermos of hot coffee is all you need to make the day unforgettable.

Bighorn Tackle
A basic 9-foot fly rod for a 5-weight line seems to be the most popular choice of anglers on the river, but there are times, especially during the midge and Blue-winged Olive hatches, when a lighter 3- or 4-weight line is an advantage for a more delicate presentation.

You will be surprised when a Bighorn guide suggests that you use nothing smaller than 5X for tippet sizes even when your fishing #20 Tricos. Most guides feel the fish are not leader shy, and that you have a better chance of keeping a good trout out of the weeds on 5X rather than on 6X.

In between hatches, we will often turn to a strike indicator and a combination of nymphs and concentrate our efforts on the riffles until something starts to hatch. Popular fly patterns like Beadhead Pheasant Tails, scuds, and caddis larva can often produce large numbers of fish.

Most Bighorn guides use these same tactics through the season to get their clients into fish both from a wading situation to fishing from the boat. This tactic is so popular that we once overheard an angler say that he counted 61 drift boats accompanied by 122 orange strike indicators!

The key to success with strike indicators and nymphs on the Bighorn is to get the flies to the level of the fish with a drag-free drift. Be prepared to get caught up in the weedy bottom of the river, it's something that anglers just have to deal with and the weeds get worse as the season progresses.

Insider Info
August is our favorite time to be on the river not only for the Trico and caddis hatches, but for the hopper opportunities as well. A typical day on the river will start with wading at daylight and fishing Trico duns, then spinners, and finally a break for lunch some days between one and two o'clock. The afternoon is spent floating and casting hoppers to the banks. Under the right conditions, these days will bring lots of explosive takes from some very nice fish. Late afternoon there's time for a break, and then it's back to the river for the evening caddis hatch. A better fishing day would be hard to imagine.

All the activity on the river centers on the little town of Fort Smith, immediately below Yellowtail Dam. Fort Smith is a colorful collection of trailer houses, tackle shops, motels, a general store, a church, and a restaurant, all more or less dependent on a thriving sportfishing industry. The Bighorn is every man's river. It is easy to get to, and accommodations range from inexpensive to free to opulent and expensive. The point is that you have a choice and the trout don't care what choice you make.

No reference to Fort Smith would be complete without mention of Polly's Place, a local restaurant and landmark. If you fish in the summer until the caddis hatch is history, you can still get a good meal at Polly's. The locals know to drop by in the afternoon when the fishing tends to slow to enjoy a piece of homemade pie and ice cream.

If time allows, the short trip to the Custer Battle Field is more than worth the effort. Its an eerie feeling to walk along the chalky bluffs where Custer and his Seventh Cavalry engaged the Cheyenne and Sioux. Custer's mindless attack, obviously inspired by his political ambitions, cost the regiment 323 casualties, more than half of his command. As you look across the grassy hillside, the white markers point out the places where troopers fell and you realize that Custer's efforts were doomed from the beginning of the battle.