Madison River
Dam: 1,680 cfs
Kirby: 2,130 cfs
Varney: 2,620 cfs
Up she goes…Both Cabin and Beaver Creeks have doubled their output over the last two days and there is a lot more heading our way. The mud should make it through Quake by late next week, but it is still gin clear above Kirby for the time being. Speaking of mud, the West Fork FINALLY blew out yesterday, and is putting in a pretty sizable stripe below Lyon’s Bridge. That being said, the nymph bite is still good down there, but we had some mixed reports from the streamer crew yesterday– some guys killed it and others not so much, but black seemed to be the magic color in the dirt. The streamer fishing in the wade section was incredible yesterday, but the early birds said it was a little slow to start. The nymph fishing on the other hand was as stupid as it usually is on opener…we must have heard of 30 different patterns yesterday that brought plenty of fish to hand, and I’m sure there were at least another 30 patterns that we didn’t hear about. Pat’s Rubber Legs, baetis nymphs, lightning bugs, and eggs seemed to be the most common denominators and we heard that the worm bite was pretty strong once you got below the west fork. If you are looking to float right now, keep in mind that there is roughly a foot of visibility until you get to Palisades, and it seemed to gain another 10-12″ once you got a little closer to Ruby Creek. All in all, it was a great start to the 2014 season yesterday we hope to see you all on the Upper Madison in the weeks to come.