Freestone · Limestone · Ontario

Bighead River

Bighead River — Trout Hollow Meaford - River 3
Poor · Steelhead
Egg pattern · 12–16
Not the day for it
River lifting fast on the rain. Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
45% confidence
limited temperature data
What moved it
  • LevelProxyvia Saugeen River
  • Water temp19.1°C
  • ClarityVery colouredColouring up
Today's fly
Egg pattern
Egg pattern12–16
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Conditions on the water
Proxy gauge
Level
Rising
Proxy
via Saugeen River
Water temp19.1°C
ClarityVery coloured
Weather21°C
WindW 16 km/h
Pressure1013 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from Saugeen River. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Steelhead
Warm — slow
19°C est.ideal 4–13°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Steelhead
When
Spring and fall steelhead; chinook in autumn.
Where
The Bighead at Meaford is a tidy, well-liked Georgian Bay steelhead river — clear limestone water with spring and fall lake-run rainbows and autumn chinook.
Why this works
Poor — barometric pressure is working for you, but water temperature is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6pm

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 11 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
ModelledModerate confidence

Modelled from regional ecology — no survey or occurrence data for this water yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Quill GordonHatch
2
2
Blue QuillHatch
2
3
2
HendricksonHatch
2
2
Eastern March BrownHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Steelhead fly box
SS
Steelhead stonefly nymph
14–16 · Nymph
Search the runs and pockets, dead-drift near the bottom.
SI
Small Intruder
12–16 · Fly
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Sanctuary reaches and FMZ 16 seasons
  • Verify current OFRS.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 3
Beaver River
12 km
Steelhead · Chinook salmon
Sydenham River (Owen Sound)
27 km
Steelhead · Chinook salmon
Nottawasaga River
52 km
Steelhead · Brown trout · Chinook salmon
Gallery · 2
  1. Bighead River — Trout Hollow Meaford - River 3
    Trout Hollow Meaford - River 3
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Conservation note

Naturalised lake-run steelhead and chinook (retention provincially regulated). Sanctuary reaches protect spawners. Clean-Drain-Dry.

Why this score · for Steelhead
  • Temperature1028% weight
  • Flow5522% weight
  • Clarity1518% weight
  • Feeding Time5513% weight
  • Pressure757% weight
  • Insect activity5212% weight
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts