Madison River
Dam: 1,340 cfs
Kirby: 2,370 cfs
Varney: 3,950 cfs
The flow out of Hebgen was decreased again yesterday, and we’re currently holding steady at around 1,350 cfs for the time being. A lot of new water has opened up in both the wade and float sections, and fishing has been really really good over the past few days. Generally speaking, it usually takes a day or so for the bite to pick up again after a substantial change in cfs, simply because most of the fish are relocating in the the river. However, there have been tons of caddis popping during the day, as well as yellow sallies, a few PMDs and lots of midges, so our theory is that there’s just so much food coming downstream that it doesn’t seem to matter. Visibility was looking good at around 18″ yesterday, but it seems to have dropped back down to a foot…doesn’t seem to be affecting the fishing though. Although there are plenty of bugs around, dry fly fishing is still tough and even the better sticks around here are having to work really hard for only a few fish. That being said, nymphing is still the way to go. Rubberlegs are still working in the fast water and on the seams, but caddis larva and pupa have been doing the most damage (#14-18 olive). Yellow sally nymphs continue to produce a lot of fish, as are midge pupa, and small attractors. Word on the ditch is that we had some salmonfly activity going on below McAtee Bridge yesterday, but it is still a little too dirty down there to think they’d be looking up. If you’re looking to fish flies that don’t sink, I would head up between the lakes for caddis or high-tail it down to the Henry’s Fork for drake madness.
