Madison River
Dam: 622 cfs
Kirby: 741 cfs
Varney: 906 cfs
JUST A REMINDER THAT THE UPPER MADISON BETWEEN QUAKE LAKE AND MCATEE BRIDGE AS WELL AS FROM ENNIS BRIDGE TO ENNIS LAKE IS CLOSED TO ALL FISHING UNTIL MAY 16TH.
The Upper Madison continues to fish very between Mac and Ennis, as well as between the lakes. It has definitely been a little windy out there, but that hasn’t seemed to affect the nymph or streamer bite too much. There have been some great hatches of BWO’s on the cloudy days below Varney, and a lot of good midge hatches as well when the wind hasn’t been ripping them off the water. A well presented #18-#20 Nyman BWO Cripple or Sparkle Dun should be all you need to know, along with a griffith’s gnat, black stillborn midge, or Stalcup midge cluster when the diptera are skittering about. Water temps have been hovering between 40-50 degrees most days, and the streamer bite seems to be picking up from the late morning to evening hours…some days have been better than others, but that is usually the case this time of year (or any time of year for that matter). The snow storm that hit the valley last night sent water temps back down into the mid 30’s this morning, so the fish may be a little lethargic until things start to warm up again later in the week. Nymph wise, a good selection of midge and baetis nymphs in #18-20 have been the ticket when isolating water, in addition to egg patterns, Rubber legs, Golden Stones, and San Juan worms. The same can be said for the Madison between the lakes, although the dry fly fishing has been marginal at best when compared to the activity on the lower river below McAtee Bridge. There haven’t been too many anglers on the weekdays, but the weekends are still pretty busy up there. As always, please watch your step and look out for spawning redds when wading this section as the rainbows are starting to come in more and more with each passing week.
