Big Browns of the Beaverhead River

The brown trout were in the typical holding areas: seams, deep holes, deep undercut banks and under trees. Although I caught a few nice ones above High Bridge, most were caught during the float below High Bridge. Some were in the deepest part of deep pools. In the bends of the river there would frequently be a deep hole that would hold the trout. Other times however, they would be right were the shallow water hit deep water or in the calm water right next to the riffle water. Then at other times, they would be in the shallower riffle water similar to the rainbows. Regardless, they were of good size.

Since the water was off color in this lower section of river, I caught a lot of browns on San Juan Worms. Checking the throat contents using a stomach pump on a few of the browns I caught revealed that they were eating a lot of worms. I also found Crane Fly Larvae and small black May Fly nymphs in the samplings. All the fish seemed healthy and pretty. The browns had beautiful markings with a few bright red spots.