Madison River
Dam: 740 cfs
Kirby: 1,200 cfs
Varney: 1,810 cfs
The clarity has improved once again in the Upper River and we are currently holding at roughly three feet of visibility and 1,200 cfs above the West Fork…just about perfect. Not much has changed as far as effective nymph patterns are concerned, with pat’s rubber legs, sally nymphs, zebra midges, baetis nymphs/emergers, PT’s, and red dips/lightning bugs/copper johns still taking good numbers of fish. As areas tight to the bank have been receiving more and more pressure, we’ve noticed that fish are moving into more “summer-like” feeding lies such as drop offs, boulder slicks, and deeper riffles, so be sure to target these areas in addition to banks if you plan on heading out there. We also had a lot fish up in the slicks sipping midges and BWOs this afternoon, so don’t forget to bring your dry box or you might be kicking yourself all the way back to the parking lot. Streamer fishing is still producing some of the larger browns and rainbows in the upper river, and while olive continues to be the most consistent color we’ve also had some good reports on white, olive/white, brown/yellow, and various other combinations during the bright afternoons. As always, if you go more than 10 minutes without response…change your color.
