Madison River
Dam: 1,520 cfs
Kirby: 2,740 cfs
Varney: 4,780 cfs
Looks like the folks at PPL just lowered the flows down to 1,500 cfs, and the river at Kirby should be down around 2,500 cfs by tomorrow. A 20% reduction in flow could put the fishing off for a little while, but the Upper Madison has been fishing well all week. Still not a lot of dry fly action, but the nymph bite has been good to excellent all throughout the wade section. Visibility was holding true at around a foot above the West Fork, but it seems have cleared up a little since yesterday, and is now in that 16-18 in. range. We are just starting to see a few PMDs and Yellow Sallies, but the majority of the bugs out right now are still caddis and midges. We are still finding fish in the soft water along the seams, and our top nymphs have been yellow sally nymphs, caddis larva, caddis pupa, small attractors, and midge pupa. The worm action has slowed down a little bit, but we are starting to get a little more action on the rubber legs, so you got to figure that the golden and salmon fly nymphs are starting to move around a little more. Speaking of salmon flies, we heard our first report of salmon fly shucks down by town , so it shouldn’t be long before we start seeing adults around Ennis and Varney bridge.
Streamer fishing has slowed down a little bit, which is typical once the fish start to see more bugs drifting by them, but it should pick back up again here soon (usually takes 1-2 weeks). Does that mean that you shouldn’t go out there and throw ’em? Not at all. It could be amazing, but the general bite has slowed down enough for us to take notice.
