Big Hole River, Montana

I think the Big Hole River would certainly be up there as one of the most recognised rivers by fly fishers anywhere in the world. One of the best things I discovered about fishing this famous river was the variety of fish to be caught. The instant my leader dipped beneath the rippled surface it was anybody's guess whether a rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, brook trout, grayling or whitefish had taken my nymph. It was really exciting. The undoubted star attraction of this species smorgasbord was, however, the fluvial Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus.

A distinct species from their European cousins, Arctic grayling are widespread in Alaska and Canada and were once widespread in Montana and Michigan, the only two states in the 'lower 48' where they were found. The Michigan fish are now extinct and the only remnant Montana population is found in the upper Big Hole River. They have since been reintroduced and stocked elsewhere in the USA, but the Big Hole's grayling never left, somehow clinging on against the odds, and that meant something to me. 

The Big Hole is an especially scenic river framed by snow-capped mountains, pine forests and lush meadows where wildflowers were in bloom. I fished a section of the upper Big Hole where the river meanders with little gradient through a wide valley of meadows, grazing pastures and willow-lined marshes.

I set up my tent at the Fishtrap campground, between the settlements of Wisdom and Dewey. Mine was the only tent amongst a handful of campervans and caravans. 

I set forth upstream from my tent. The sun shone strongly with barely a cloud to blemish the sky but a blustery downstream wind made casting difficult. At times I wished I was in one of the boats which drifted by at intervals, as the anglers in them didn't have to deal with casting into the strong wind. I did OK in spite of the wind though. In fact I came pretty close to achieving the coveted Montana 'grand slam' of catching a rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, brook trout and fluvial grayling within the same day - only to miss out on a brown trout!

I saw several salmonflies either fluttering in the air, floating downstream or clinging to bankside grasses. I was initially quite excited by the prospect of some electrifying dry fly fishing action. One of the Big Hole's main draw cards is an annual salmonfly hatch, typically in the month of June, when salmonfly nymphs crawl out of the water on to rocks or the stems of grass in droves, and shed their skins to become flying trout food. The hatch draws anglers to the Big Hole from far and wide. I soon observed however that the fish largely left the adults alone. I gathered later from locals that the best of the hatch had passed just a few short days before my arrival. The fish had already gorged themselves to the point of not wanting to eat more of them.

Casting from the bank, I worked the river's margins with a heavy nymph. When I needed extra depth I added split shot to my leader. I walked slowly, basking in the sunlight and fresh air, and caught a quartet of whitefish in the first three hours.

When my indicator next dipped beneath the water's surface, and a fish came into view from the dark depths, I first thought it was another whitefish because it had a similar appearance. But then I noticed that it was subtly different, and my heart began to beat ever so slightly faster. It was marginally darker than a whitefish, almost gunmetal in colour, with black etchings down its flanks. Then I saw the unmistakable dorsal fin of a grayling, flaring in the current as the fish searched for its freedom. Here was the star of the show, the fish I prized above the others, a fluvial grayling from the state of Montana. 

Mission accomplished: fluvial Arctic grayling!

I then came to an opening in the bank, no more than two or three metres wide, where a small creek drained into the Big Hole River. From the mouth of this little creek I caught four brook trout, which obviously treated the inlet as something of a safe haven from the dangers of the main river. The largest of them was probably my best brook trout to date.

The mouth of the small inlet is just visible in the background

And then it was the turn of a pair of hard fighting rainbows, flush in pink and a profusion of spots. They fought well, giving the best account of any fish yet.

A long rainbow trout

I took the very next fish to be a cutthroat trout because it possessed a smear of orange war paint beneath its jaw. Looking back the fish was probably a 'cutbow' - a hybrid of rainbow and cutthroat trout. There was just too much pink in its gills and lateral line for it to be pure. It was a fabulous fish to catch no matter its heritage.

I caught a final whitefish and then a mottled, snake-like fish took my nymph and twisted over and over until I could drag it into my net and look at it, slightly horrified at its appearance. I had no idea what it was at the time, but believe it might be a burbot, known locally as 'ling'. Notwithstanding their looks, ling are apparently delicious to eat. This one seemed to either be carrying an injury across its back or a disease, so I used my forceps to remove the hook without touching the fish and tipped it back into the water. 

As the evening wore on I tried desperately to land a brown trout to complete the 'grand slam' but the mosquitoes became too much to handle, and viciously chased me back to the safety of my tent. 

My guide book described the Big Hole valley as one of the coldest places in Montana and I can vouch for that. I left my wet hiking boots outside my tent overnight and when I woke up the next morning they were plastered with 3mm of ice!

I fished the Big Hole for a second morning, for about three hours, in the hopes of hooking a brown trout, but I managed only to land a couple of rainbow trout. Over the next two days I would catch several brown trout a little way up two of the Big Hole's tributaries, and this was good enough for me to claim an 'almost grand slam'.

I really enjoyed fishing the Big Hole River. It's a river every fly fisher should strive to visit in their lifetime.