Madison River
Dam: 1,650 cfs
Kirby: 1,810 cfs
Varney: 2,070 cfs
With highs in the sixties and plenty of water, the Upper Madison is in prime shape for the opener tomorrow. With the exception of Cabin and Beaver, all the creeks are running clear and the river down by Ennis has even lost its green tinge from last week. The forecast is calling for a 40-60% chance of showers through tuesday, so we’ll see how long this lasts, but conditions are absolutely perfect for the time being. As far as fly selection is concerned, it is usually more about presentation on opening weekend than any one particular pattern– A good selection of Pat’s Ruber Legs, baetis nymphs, PT’s, and attractors is usually more than enough to get it done under the indicator. For all the dry fly guys out there, expect to see good numbers of BWOs emerging in the wade section, as well as March Browns below McAtee Bridge. Also worth mentioning is that the Mother’s Day Caddis are going OFF below Varney Bridge…we had fish up for about an hour yesterday but it seemed like they were just plain gorged after that. When they do decide to put the feed bag on again, this will be the best dry fly action you will see until runoff subsides. Last but not least, the streamer fishing should be as epic as it usually is on the opener– keep it dark under cloudy skies and switch over to the bright stuff when the sun starts to poke through…simple as that.
