Left Maine to see if this famous trout river lived up to the hype

Left Maine to see if this famous trout river lived up to the hype recounts a fly-fishing trip aimed at testing the Bighorn River’s reputation after avoiding crowded waters on famous U.S. trout streams. The author says they were drawn to a trip to the Bighorn River in Montana despite concerns, citing expectations of 3,000 to 4,000 trout per mile and reports that anglers return repeatedly. The journey is described as leaving from the author’s home base in Maine and traveling to Fort Smith, Montana, where they stayed at Kingfisher Lodge with two sons, a son-in-law and friends. The writer attributes the group’s success to guides and notes sightings of drift boats on the water, including stretches where they reported fishing alone during the first of two floats. They also describe a 23-inch brown trout caught by the author’s son-in-law on his third day of fly-fishing. Fishing included PMD dries that did not draw strikes, and two nymph indicator rigs using size 16 or 18 sowbugs. The article says trout counts were about 1,500 per mile due to consecutive high-water years that deposited silt on redds, reducing the effective fish census.