Photo by Chuck Robbins

A deep-drifted nymph duped this cutthroat on the Big Hole River. A wise man once observed: “The difference between a great day nymphing and a skunking is often one measly split shot.”

Streamers and nymphs generally produce most consistently. But in early spring, skwala stonefly, blue-wing olive (Baetis), midge, caddis and March brown hatches provide ample opportunities for top-water action. Competition from other anglers is scarce. You’ll probably have the river to yourself, or close enough.

THE BIG HOLE RIVER
The river runs for 188 miles from around Skinner Meadows, high in the Beaverhead Mountains southwest of Jackson, to the confluence of the Beaverhead River, a mile or so north of Twin Bridges. For fishing purposes, the river can be divided into four sections.
1) Upper-Upper: Skinner Meadows to Squaw Creek Bridge.,br> 2) Upper: Squaw Creek Bridge to Jerry Creek Bridge.
3) Middle: Jerry Creek Bridge to Browne’s Bridge.
4) Lower: Browne’s Bridge to the Beaverhead River.

From Skinner Meadows to Twin Bridges, the river drops from about a 7,000-foot elevation to 4,500. Winter here comes earlier and stays later. So early on, start down low and work up as spring gains a firmer grip.

The 2006 season is a good example. On the lower river, ice-out occurred pretty much on schedule, with open water by the end of March. But until about April 10, the upper river remained locked in. When it let loose, a huge ice jam formed at Dickie Bridge, just above Wise River, backing the river up for miles. Eventually it spilled over, flooding the entire river corridor. On April 15, the jam let loose, scouring the river below and effectively killing off the early-spring fishing for about a week.

The moral: Early-spring conditions change literally overnight. Maintain a flexible schedule and always check first before planning a trip.

The Upper Section, from Squaw Creek to Jerry Creek, offers the best chance at the coveted Big Hole slam -- a brook, brown, cutthroat, rainbow, Arctic grayling and mountain whitefish -- all six in a single day.

Last spring, in outings just three days apart, two clients came very close, each netting five. One guy failed to net a brown, while the other guy struck out on whitefish, of all species. Here, whities are almost as numerous as slippery rocks -- almost, that is!

Brookies, grayling, whitefish and a smattering of cutthroat dominate the upper reaches, but there are plenty of rainbows. Hefty browns, apparent leftovers from the fall spawning run, show up frequently, especially around the mouths of tributaries.

While not a major factor in early spring, upper river flows tend to drop drastically once runoff ends; and in dry years, summer fishing here can be pretty grim. Miles of the upper river have been closed to fishing for several weeks in recent years, due to low summer flows and dangerously high water temperatures.

Many of the biggest trout fall to streamers (buggers, Yuk Bugs, JJ Specials, Bunny Leeches and such), but nymphs and dries tend to produce the most consistent action. If there’s no hatch, it’s tough to beat a pair of nymphs rigged 5 or 6 feet or so below a strike indicator. To limit myself to just two patterns, my picks would be a No. 10 Pat’s Rubber Legs and a similarly sized red San Juan Worm. But my nymph box has a good selection of beadhead and standard nymph patterns, like Prince, PT, Hare’s Ear, Micro-May, Bloody Mary and Copper Johns.