By the time July arrives, the Bighorn has shed its spring moodiness and settled into the classic, confident rhythm that makes this one of the best dry fly rivers in the country. The PMDs are hatching thick, the first Tricos are showing in the back eddies, and on the right afternoon you can watch grasshoppers stumble into the current from banks that are just beginning to dry out.
It is also the busiest month of the year on the water, which means the fish have seen every basic presentation in the book. If you want July's best fishing — not just its average fishing — three specific techniques separate the anglers who fill their net from the ones who spend the day changing flies. Here is what our guides are teaching on the boat this month, followed by the full fishing report.
Master the Drag-Free Drift: The 45-Degree Downstream Presentation
On the Bighorn's long, glassy flats, a fish that has already seen a thousand PMDs this season will refuse anything carrying even a hint of drag — and in July, with the hatch at its peak, refusals are the rule, not the exception.
Instead of casting square across the current to a riser, angle your cast about 45 degrees downstream and feed slack into the drift as the fly approaches. Done correctly, the fly reaches the trout before the leader does. That half-second of separation is often the entire difference between a refusal and a hookup on this technical stretch of water.
Once you have found the soft water holding a big trout, the 45-degree presentation is how you actually get that fish to eat.
Fish the Light, Not the Clock: The Dawn Patrol Advantage
By 2 PM in mid-July, the canyon is baking and the best-educated fish have already slid back into deeper, cooler water. Most anglers are still out there fishing hard. The guides are not — they were on the water four hours earlier.
In low light, wary summer trout move up onto shallow gravel bars and soft banks to feed in water they would never touch at noon. Approach from downstream, keep your shadow off the water, and size your tippet down a notch from what you would use midday. In dawn light, a heavier leader gives away the game before you have made a single cast.
The best fishing of the day in July is not a time so much as a specific quality of light — and it disappears the moment the sun clears the bluffs. With air temperatures pushing into the mid-90s this season, your prime window is 5:30 to 9:30 AM. Fish the morning hard.
Read the Banks, Trust the Pause: Hopper Season Starts Early
Late in the month there is a sound that means the fishing is about to change: the dry rustle of grasshoppers in the streamside grass, followed by the unmistakable plop of one missing its landing. The big browns hear it before you do.
Not every grassy bank holds fish. Look for a slight undercut, a few inches of overhanging vegetation, and a soft seam tight against the hard edge. That is where a trout can hold with almost no effort and still ambush anything that falls in. Cast tight enough to the bank that it makes you a little nervous, let the fly hit with a small splat, and do not touch it.
Then comes the hardest part. A hopper eat is visual and violent — and that is exactly what gets anglers in trouble. The trout often misses on the first strike, and setting the hook the instant you see the splash pulls the fly away before the fish ever gets it. Wait for the weight. Count one Mississippi, then lift smoothly. It feels impossibly slow the first few times. It also works.
Call us at 800.665.3799 or email info@forrestersbighorn.com.
Forrester's Bighorn River Resort — Fort Smith, Montana
Orvis-endorsed fly fishing since 1992 | 800.665.3799 | forrestersbighorn.com