Madison River
Dam: 851 cfs
Kirby: 971 cfs
Varney: 1,100 cfs
Things have definitely picked up on the Upper Madison over the last week or so. With colder water temps up high, the wade section is still your best best for numbers, but we are starting to see more and more flying ants in the float section. Ant imitations in size 16-18 have been the most consistent producers on top, but we’ve been getting a few to eat a hopper or a beetle every now and again. There are still quite a few caddis from three dollar bridge up to the lake, as well as Epeorus spinners, but their numbers should be waning in the coming weeks– Evening egg laying sessions and spinner falls have been best from around 7:00 p.m. until dark Nymphing is still the way to go through, and small three dollar dips, red and crystal serendipitys, and smaller caddis larva (olive and tan) have been the most consistent patterns for us. They seem to want something a little different every day now, but they are still eating, so if at first you don’t succeed… try, try again. Streamer fishing has been very good in the mornings, but things seem to be slowing down for us after 10:00 a.m. When the storms have been rolling in during the afternoons, we’ve seen both BWOs and Flavs start to pop, but mostly above and below Raynold’s Bridge.
