Madison River
Dam: 1,030 cfs
Kirby: 1,090 cfs
Varney: 1,180 cfs
Colder nights, and thus colder water temps have improved fishing throughout the wade section over the last week. We are still seeing a few caddis above Raynold’s Bridge as well as Epeorus spinners, which has made for some good evening dry fly fishing after 7:00 p.m., but nymphing has still been the way to go during the day if you are looking for numbers. Three Dollar Dips in #16-18 have been the most consistent, but black or red midges, caddis larva, and even baetis nymphs (in the a.m.) should be in the rotation as well. We’ve been getting a few reports of good hopper fishing on smaller Dave’s and parachute hoppers during the afternoon, but ants have proven to be the terrestrial of choice over the last few days, so I wouldn’t be without a good selection of black, cinnamon, or brown patterns in #14-18 if you’re planning on heading over here– Tonight was the first emergence of flying ants (#14 Honey) outside the shop, so hopefully they will be hitting the water throughout the Upper Madison over the next few weeks. If you are lucky enough to see an ant fall, it will usually take place between 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m…
The float section continues to be a little more inconsistent, but we’ve still had some great days this week running small serendipitys and attractors under the indicator. For whatever reason, the A.M. streamer bite has slowed down considerably over the last week below Lyon’s, but you will still have a shot at some of the larger browns in the river if you decide to throw some junk at them before the sun hits the water…we just aren’t seeing the numbers of fish coming to the fly that we did in the previous three weeks. The hopper bite has ranged from good to non-existent, but ants and smaller dries like purple hazes and PMXs have been taking some nice fish when trailed behind them. Our nocturnal stones are still around as well, so don’t hesitate to throw some smaller chernobyls in the morning and again after the sun goes off the water.
