2016 - Guided Fly Fishing Madison River | Lodging

Madison River Fishing Report for October 26th, 2016

October 23, 2019October 26, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for October 26th, 2016

Dam: 722 cfs

Kirby: 882 cfs

Varney: 1,030 cfs

Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has been fishing extremely well over the last two weeks, despite being one of the windier Octobers we’ve experienced in quite some time. The nice thing is that the upper wade stretch and the Madison between the lakes are generally a lot more protected from the wind tunnel that can occur from the West Fork down to Ennis Lake, so there are always areas to seek refuge if need be. The nymph fishing continues to be outstanding throughout the upper river, but fish have been very particular about what they are looking for. As a general rule of thumb, if you make thirty good drifts through a run that you know holds fish without an eat, change up your flies and keep changing until you figure it out. One of the most common mistakes we see from people is spending five minutes in a run and moving on to the next one without taking the time to play with depth and fly choice. Some of our best patterns over the last week have been Wine colored San Juan Worms, small Pat’s Rubber Legs, #18 Zebra Midges in black/silver and black/copper, #20 Green Machines in pheasant tail and gray, #20 Galloup’s BWO nymphs, #18-20 BWO Barr’s Emergers, #18 Three Dollar Dips, #18-20 BWO Triple-B Flashbacks, and #18 lightning bugs. We have also seen decent numbers of Blue Wings hatching up high, and Nyman’s BWO Cripple or Galloup’s BWO Tilt-Wing Dun in size 20 have both been great choices for picking off rising fish.

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022October 7, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for October 7th, 2016 Dam: 714 cfs Kirby: 839 cfs Varney: 891 cfs Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has been fishing very well this October, and it should only continue to get better through the end of the month. We have seen good hatches of #20 BWOs, pseudocloeons, and midges … Read more

Madison River Fishing Report for September 19th, 2016

October 23, 2019September 20, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for September 19th, 2016

Dam: 757 cfs

Kirby: 809 cfs

Varney: 830 cfs

Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has been fishing well this September, and the wade section between Quake and Lyon’s Bridge has really turned on over the last 2-3 weeks. It has been primarily a nymph game out there, but we are still getting a few good fish to come up for small hoppers and ants during the warm afternoons as well as BWOs on the colder overcast days. That said, if you are looking for numbers than you’ll want to throw an indicator out there, and some of our most productive nymphs this month have been san juan worms, #18 Zebra Midges, Kelly’s BWO Nymph in #18-20, BWO Barr’s Emergers in #18-20, BWO Triple-B Flashbacks in #18, brown and black $3 Dips in #18, Gray and PT Green Machines in #20, and small lightning bugs. We’ve been doing best on the worm earier in the morning, and the fish seem to transition over to the midge drift around 9:00-10:00 a.m.. As for the Blue Wings, they seem to be getting started a little earlier on the brighter days whereas you aren’t likely to see them until 1:00-2:00 p.m. on the cold and cloudy afternoons that are scheduled to descend upon the Madison Valley through the weekend. Once you start to see the first sign of Baetis beginning to hatch, switch to Kelly’s BWO nymph and trail an emerger such as a BWO Barr’s Emerger or Triple-B Flashback in size 18-20 and you should get into fish right away. If that doesn’t seem to work out, try moving your indicator up a couple of feet in case the fish are suspended and you are getting your bugs too far below them. If you start to see some noses poking up, tie on a Nyman’s BWO cripple or Sparkle Dun in size 20 and that should do the trick. Streamer fishing has also been good up high, and we are seeing decent numbers of lake fish coming up between the lakes as well as the Madison in Yellowstone National Park. Some of our better patterns over the last few weeks have been Trevor Sculpins, Peanut Envys, Silk Kitties, CH Barely Legals, and various small sculpin imitations in natural and olive. With water temps in the mid fifties to low sixties, we’ve been finding good browns that are more than happy to chase down a streamer on a fast retrieve.

Madison River Fishing Report for August 25th, 2016

October 23, 2019August 25, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for August 25th, 2016

Dam: 861 cfs

Kirby: 892 cfs

Varney: 875 cfs

Madison River fishing report. The flow out of Hebgen was increased to 861 cfs this afternoon, which should give the fish some much needed breathing room, and make sections of the river such as Cameron flats and 8 Mile to town a lot more tolerable than what we’ve seen over the last week. That said, the Upper Madison continues to hold its own throughout the month of August, and the good news is that the warmer nights and 90 degree days appear to be on the way out. The wade section between Quake and Lyon’s Bridge has been a little more challenging in the mornings, but we have still been getting some good fish to eat small zebra midges and hares ears until the bite starts picking up around 10:00 a.m.. A good way to counter the lack of activity is to cash in on some of the dynamite streamer fishing that has been going on from O’ dark-thirty until 9:00 a.m., and we have been doing best on small sculpin imitations like Mini Loops, Trevor’s Sculpins, and Galloup’s Wooly Sculpins over the last week. However, we have also had some good activity on larger streamers such as Sex Dungeons, Silk Kitties, and Boogie Men until the sun hits the water. If you are looking to stack up some numbers, then nymphing is still your best bet out there and some of our better patterns this week have been #18 black and original $3 Dips, #18 PT Green Machines, #18 Micro Mayflies, #20 BWO nymphs, and #18-20 RS-2’s…in other words, a lot of small stuff. There have been quite a few Pseudos starting to hatch in the mornings as well a slightly larger (#18-20) mayfly emerging in the early afternoon, and a #20 parachute adams or #20 Nyman’s BWO Cripple are both good choices if you start to see heads poking up. We’ve had a few reports of decent hopper fishing in the afternoon, but ants have been far more consistent, as is usually the case this time of year. Our best ant patterns in the upper stretch have been Kelly’s Ant Acid in cinnamon and black/purple, with the Delektable CDC Ant in cinnamon and Bloom’s Parachute Ant tied in a very close second. There have been good numbers of small black flying ants starting their migration as of late, so it shouldn’t be long until the larger honey ants begin to take flight. If you plan on fishing into the late afternoon hours on the Madison this week, do yourself a favor and make sure you have at least a few #12-14 flying ant patterns in your box or you could be missing out on the biggest suicide bite of the year. Most of the flights tend to occur between 3:30-5:30 pm, and our favorite places to fish them are usually around Three Dollar Bridge and pretty much anywhere downstream from Ruby Cliffs. There are still a few caddis out at night, but their numbers are dwindling with each passing day. However, we are still seeing decent amounts of Epeorus spinners around, and a #16 rusty spinner has been about all you need to stay bent during that last hour before dark.

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022August 12, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for August 11th, 2016 Dam: 931 cfs Kirby: 1,010 cfs Varney: 1,080 cfs Madison River fishing report. The fishing on the Upper Madison has picked up considerably since our last report, and the additional water we saw last week seemed to really get things going again. The wade section has been … Read more

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022July 31, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for July 31st, 2016 Dam: 1,140 cfs Kirby: 1,230 cfs Varney: 1,300 cfs Madison River fishing report. The Madison continues to be one of the better options in the region, with low water and high temps still effecting the majority of freestones in the area. Fishing on the upper river remains … Read more

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022July 18, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for July 18th, 2016 Dam: 851 cfs Kirby: 1,010 cfs Varney: 1,310 cfs Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison continues to fish extremely well this Summer, and the dry fly fishing has been some of the best we’ve seen in a very long time. There are still some salmon flies … Read more

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022July 2, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for July 2nd, 2016 Dam: 832 cfs Kirby: 1,020 cfs Varney: 1,280 cfs Madison River fishing report. Simply put, the Upper Madison is about as good as it gets right now. With daytime temperatures peaking in the high seventies to low eighties and 300 cfs more water in the ditch since … Read more

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022June 25, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for June 24th, 2016 Dam: 545 cfs Kirby: 829 cfs Varney: 1,270 cfs Madison River fishing report. The fishing on the Upper Madison has been excellent this week, and despite the crazy afternoon gusts the dry fly bite has remained pretty solid. Most of what you’ll find in the upper 12 miles between … Read more

Madison River Fishing Report

January 18, 2022June 16, 2016 by John

Madison River Fishing Report for June 15th, 2016 Dam: 598 cfs Hebgen: 1,020 cfs Varney: 1,800 cfs Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has really been coming into shape over the last week, and we are currently sitting at 20″-24″ of visibility in the wade section below Quake Lake. Water levels have been dropping steadily throughout … Read more