Madison River
Dam: 1,140 cfs
Kirby: 1,240 cfs
Varney: 1,410
Fall fishing is in full swing on the Madison, and the time of extremes is finally upon us…That is to say, you’re either going to be throwing #18-22 nymphs and dries out there or ripping larger streamers…there’s really not too much in between. The wade section has been a little more finicky this week than we’re used to. Generally speaking, you can nymph ’em up on #18-20 baetis nymphs and midges until the emergence occurs (usually between 11:00 and 1:00) and then start throwing BWO duns and small barr’s emergers throughout the early afternoon. While we have had some great days on this routine, some days the bugs just aren’t showing up in numbers and we’ve been left scratching our heads. Cloudy, overcast days have been best so keep that in mind if you’re coming over to the Upper River in search of heads. Also worth noting is that the nymph bite hasn’t really been getting going until after 10:00 a.m., so there’s really no need to get on the water much earlier than that. Streamer fishing on the other hand has been far more consistent, and we’ve actually been doing better pulling junk than nymphing on a number of occasions. Olive and Black Boogie Men have been the heavy hitters this week as have sex dungeons and peanut evys. If you aren’t getting much love in the morning, try slowing down your retrieve a little bit, as the browns generally start to get more aggressive later in the day. Faster retrieves have been a lot more effective from late morning on and into the evening hours. We’ve been seeing a lot of fat, healthy browns in the river over the last couple weeks, and a fair number of fish have started moving up from Quake into the river system…let the games begin.
