Madison River
Dam: 1,310 cfs
Kirby: 1,420 cfs
Varney: 1,590 cfs
It’s been a hot one out there for the better part of two weeks, and water temps are now peaking at around 71 degrees at Kirby…not so good for the afternoon bite. If you are planning on wetting a line in the Upper Madison these days I would highly recommend getting on the water as early as possible, fishing until noon-thirty, and heading back out after 6:30 p.m. as the fishing has actually been really good during these time frames. Various serendipitys, hare’s ears, and epeorus emergers in the #16-18 range have been the flies of choice under the indicator, as have soft hackles trailed behind a zonker. As far as dries are concerned, our nocturnal stones are now scattered throughout the river, and periods of low light have made for some great dry fly fishing with smaller chubby chernobyls, fat alberts, and other foam creatures. Spruce Moths have starting to hatch below Lyons, and while we’ve had a couple of “good” falls so far, it has been a little more inconsistent as far as numbers of them are concerned. There have been a lot of hoppers down around the banks, but water temps have been a little too warm for fish to be looking up during the heat of the day. Caddis action has been good in the wade section around 7:00 p.m. or so, but we are starting to see less bugs below Lyons these days so I would stay above the West Fork if you’re planning on heading out in the evenings.
