Madison River
Dam: Â 963 cfs
Kirby: 1,020 cfs
The Upper Madison continues to fish very well with nymphs, but so far the dry fly fishing has been a little slower than we’ve seen over the last couple of years. Â One reason for the lack of heads can be summed up in a word: Wind. Â While the forecast is calling for strong gusts through Friday night there is a little light at the end of the tunnel, as some much needed cloud cover and snow is expected to envelop the Madison valley over the weekend. Â There have also been less hatches as well. Â That’s not to say that there aren’t enough to get a good pod of fish looking up on most days, but it is far from the incredible hatches we saw during the Winters of 2013 and 2014. Â When they have been eating up top you can count on it between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and a well presented still born midge, cdc midge, or griffith’s gnat in #18-20 is usually all you need to know. Â We still have another month and a half to go up here, so hopefully things will start to get rolling as the month progresses. Â If nymph fishing is more your style, then you should have no problem getting a bend in the rod right now. Â Small Olive Hare’s Ears, zebra midges, $3 Dips, and stonefly nymphs are still taking good numbers of fish in the deeper holes and slow edges of the Upper Madison.
