Madison River
Dam: 804 cfs
Kirby: 1,380 cfs
First off, let me apologize for the lack of river reports over the last week, as I have been out on guide trips everyday. The Upper Madison has been good early and late, but afternoons have been tough…especially in the float section. However, with the warmer temps over the last three days, it looks like we are finally moving out of the transitional phase as we are seeing more caddis and PMDs popping every day. Yesterday seemed like the first decent afternoon in a long time where we were still hooking good fish throughout the day, but we definitely worked for them. We’ve also been seeing some BWO’s hatching when the clouds have moved in, and black rubber legs trailing a #18-20 BWO nymph have been our go to combination. Both caddis larva and pupas have been the ticket for most of the morning, as have PMD emergers, but fish seem to be moving more for attractors and midges once it slows down around noon. The dry bite on the wade section seems to finally be getting going, as there were quite a few fish up on caddis last night, but it still seems like nymphing is the way to go until the evening egg layers get going. And now for everyone’s favorite bug– Salmon flies have been spotted around Varney Bridge, so expect to start seeing them move up through McAtee over the next week or so. Streamer fishing has been good early and late, but we still haven’t had a good afternoon bite…yet. All and all, this place is about to explode, and we’ll keep you updated in the days to come.
