Fishing Season: Spring

Bighorn River - WY

Fishing Outlook & Conditions

Water Temp:

42

Jeramie Prine's Tip of the Week

The Bighorn River has changed to spring conditions. Nymphing and dry fly fishing are the ticket right now. Rainbows are spawning, so please don't fish to or walk on the redds. These are crucial to maintaining a great fishery into the future. Nymphing and dry fly fishing (on the right day) is the name of the game. Use smaller nymphs 16-20 and run them deep. For dry flies it is blue wing olive season. Conditions must be right for the hatches. Avoid fishing shallow water. There are plenty of fish to be caught in deep runs. To see the actual water flows, please visit: https://www.usbr.gov/gp-bin/arcweb_boyr.pl

Directions open in app

Map of Bighorn River

Water Flow Data

Tidal Conditions

Orvis-Endorsed guides nearby

Dunoir Fishing Adventures

5-Day Outlook as of 3/23/26

Temperatures will range from 50-70 degrees this week with no precipitation expected. It should be a nice week to fish.

Techniques & Tips as of 3/23/26

Nymphing, dry fly, and streamer fishing have been catching trout. Focus on deeper runs.

Local Species Available Spring

  • Fish Icon

    Trout

Jeramie Prine's Recommended Fly Patterns

"Must-have" fly fishing patterns in descending order of importance:

Name: Colors: Size(s):
Bead Head Hare's Ear Flashback N/A 16
Indicator Spinner - Trico N/A 16
Shaky Worm N/A 16
Rouse's J-Dub Sow Bug N/A 16
Schroeder's Parachute Hopper N/A
Schultzy's Red Eyes Leech N/A

Bead Head Hare's Ear Flashback

Fish love flies that have a bit of flash.

2.49

Item #803E

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Jeramie Prine's Recommended Gear

Description: About Bighorn River

The Bighorn River in Wyoming is an amazing fishery that can be fished year-round for big healthy Browns, Rainbows, and the occasional Cutthroat Trout. It definitely helps to fish this river from a drift boat as it is a large river, and there is limited and hard to reach public access. The Bighorn River boasts roughly 1100 trout per mile, and the scenery is not too bad either. The Bighorn River in Wyoming is similar to the stretch in Montana, but not nearly the amount of people the river sees up north. With that said, the Bighorn in Wyoming has been discovered and in the spring the river can get pretty busy. Winter can be a great time to fish the Bighorn with little to no crowds. In summer, anglers can count on moss but some great dry fly fishing. Fall can be a magical time on the river with cooler temps, less moss, and fish chasing streamers.

Nearest Airport:

Riverton Regional Airport

Hatches:

Midges, sow bugs, baetis, mud bugs, and annelids.

Best Time to Fish:

9:00-4:00

Best Stretch:

All of it!

Best Access:

Wedding of the Waters