The time I fished it, in May of 1993, the water was discolored and cold. Sam and I started in a pool just below where the stream crosses Rip Shin Road, at the upper end of the hatchery supported water. Landed a few stockers on Tellico nymphs. We moved upstream onto the catch & release section, and Sam promptly caught a nice rainbow on an annelid pattern. We fished about a half-mile up the stream, and I caught a couple of small rainbows on soft-hackle yellow bodied flies. No specific pattern, just something I tied up. We actually turned around at the beginning of some very promising-looking water, since things had been so slow. Also, with the discolored water, wading was difficult, since we couldn't see where we were putting our feet.
Even though I didn't have a great outing, I'd like to get back to Bighorse one day under better conditions. Sam has been there when the water was clear and done much better. Also, I think I'd do better there now even under adverse conditions. I didn't fish bead-head nymphs in 1993, and I'm now a firm beliver in them, especially in situations such as I encountered on Bighorse.
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