Madison River
Dam: 2,430 cfs
Kirby: 3,370 cfs
Varney: 4,760 cfs
The wade section continues to fish very well despite high water and 6-8 inches of visibility, and this weekend has been no exception. Just about everyone who stopped in yesterday said they did well, and we also had some very happy clients come back from a guide trip. The streamer fishing has slowed down a little bit, but nymphing has been more than made up for it. Red San Juan Worms, Brown Warbirds/rubberlegs, Red serendipitys , purple lightning bugs, red midges, and baetis nymphs/emergers have all tagged some really quality fish. The blue winged olives seem to be coming off between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. depending on the cloud cover, and we’ve been doing very well with a size 20 BWO emerger behind a stonefly nymph during that little window. If you are thinking about floating, I would stay in the wade section for the time being…the West Fork is still putting in quite a bit of mud, and the visibility is much better (relatively) upstream to the Lake. This time of year, where you fish is much more important than what you fish. The majority of the prime holding water is generally between Raynold’s and Pine Butte, and if you find the soft water there will almost always be fish holding there…Just make sure you’re getting your flies right on the bottom, and you should have good fishing. If you’re still having problems figuring out this high water thing, stop in the shop, and we’ll get you the flies you need and point ya in the right direction.
