Madison River

Dam: 870 cfs

Kirby: 937 cfs

Its been a chilly first week of September in south west Montana, and it doesn’t look like its going to be getting any warmer out there for a while.  Flows were dropped 200 cfs on August 31st after a “school bus sized” boulder crushed three gates at Ennis Dam the day before.  They have been running a good amount of water down the lower Madison in order to draw down Ennis lake, thus allowing for a more thorough inspection of the damaged area.  That being said, the colder temperatures and cloudy skies have brought some much needed life to the Upper Madison, as we have been seeing good numbers of pseudos, Blue wings, and midges hatching from late morning on through the afternoon.  On the colder mornings, there has been no need to get on the river until after 9:00 a.m. or so, but once it starts to warm up we’ve been taking quite a few fish on midges and baetis nymphs in the #18-22 range.  Obviously this is a little easier to do in the wade section, but stick a small rubber leg or zonker on as your point fly, and its sure to bring some attention to your trailing baetis nymph while floating.  Streamer fishing has been good to excellent all over the upper river, and things should only get better as we move a little closer towards Fall with each passing day.

Madison River

Dam: 1,030 cfs

Kirby: 1,130 cfs

With the cold fronts that have been coming in for the last three days, water temps have dropped into the high fifties and low sixties which should only improve the fishing over the next week.  Flows are still  above average for this time of year, giving the fish a little more room to spread out in both the wade and float sections…which is nice.  Fishing has been a lot more consistent between the outlet of Quake and Palisades than it has been in the rest of the float sections.  We are still seeing caddis here and there below Lyons, but most of the bug activity seems to be above the west fork.  Although the dry bite has been good some days, nymphing small $3 dips and other midges behind caddis larva/pupa has been the way to go in the wade section.  If they are looking up, caddis, ants, beetles, and small hoppers have been what they’re after.  Our hoppers are still in limbo at the moment…one day fish seem to be looking for them, and the next day you won’t even have a looker, so don’t beat the water with them if they’re not producing.  Our mutant stones are still in good numbers below Lyons bridge, and spruce moths are just getting going as well…what can we say…everything is late this year, but it should start to get crazy over here in the next week or so.  On another note, we’ve been having some great streamer fishing when the clouds have been rolling in, so be sure to have a black and olive sex dungeon (or two) before you head out to the river.

Madison River

Dam: 851 cfs

Kirby: 1,010 cfs

The Madison continues to fish well up high, but the water has warmed up a little bit below Varney bridge.  Caddis and PMDs have been the name of the game throughout the morning, with the hatches starting around 9:00 a.m and lasting until around noon.  When the wind has cooperated, fish have been looking up, and we’ve been doing well on size 16 PMD parachutes and tan X-caddis trailing sparkle pupas, Iris Caddis, soft hackle hare’s ears, and PMD emergers.  If it gets a little too blustery out there, put on the bobbers, and you should be rewarded– some of our best patterns have been olive sparkle pupas, PMD Barr’s Emergers, copper johns, #18 red lightning bugs, $3 dips, Caddis larva, and various midges.  The big stoneflies are gone, but there are still TONS of yellow sallies out there, which have been providing some good dry fly action during the afternoons.  The small terrestrial bite is just getting going up here, with ants and beetles being your best bet right now, but we have been getting a few good fish to take a look at a hopper every now and again.  Attractor fishing has been day to day, but small royal stimulators, PMXs, and just good old parachute adams have been taking some nice fish during the afternoon lulls.    The evenings continue to be the best dry fly fishing action at the moment.  Fish seem to be getting on the caddis between 6:30 and 7:00 pm, and the Epeorus spinner falls have been taking over about 45 minutes before dark.  Streamer fishing has been good early and late, but its been pretty tough throughout the rest of the day.

Madison River

Dam: 890 cfs

Kirby: 1080 cfs

The Upper Madison is in full swing, but fishing has been a little spotty due to high winds as of late.  When the “W” has cooperated the dry fly bite has been really good, with yellow sallies, golden stones, caddis, PMDs, Epeorus, and even Grey Drakes being the top producers.  Salmon Flies are pretty much done for the year, but we have seen a few still hovering around the wade section.  Goldens are a little more prevalent from Lyon’s bridge on up, but the sallies are out in far greater numbers– One of the rainbows I landed two nights ago had sallies caked all over the inside of his mouth, which were between size 16 and 18.  Caddis and PMDs have been popping from around 9:00 am to noon, and fish have definitely been looking up for them.  If the wind picks up in the afternoon, you can still catch fish on dries, but you’ll do far better nymphing caddis larva/pupa/diving adults, PMD nymphs, soft hackles, and attractors like lightening bugs, prince nymphs, and red copper johns.  The evening fishing has really picked up over the last few days, with caddis starting around 7:00 and Epeorus Spinners starting to fall around 9:00 pm, but fish have also been looking for golden stones around that time as well.