Madison River
Dam: 822 cfs
Kirby: 860 cfs
Steady as she goes…The Upper Madison continues to fish well with nymphs throughout the day, and the midge activity has been good to outstanding for the dry fly enthusiasts during the late morning to early afternoon hours. Small Hares Ears, #18 $3 Dips, #8-10 Pat’s Rubber Legs, and various midge pupa/larva are all good bets under the indicator right now, but as most of the experienced winter anglers know, its generally more about finding the fish this time of year rather than a specific pattern– Focus your efforts on the deeper holes, buckets, and tail-outs before the emergence and you should do well out there. Once the clock strikes noon, you may want to start looking more towards the shallows as fish tend to start hugging the banks a little more once the midges start to pop. Black Stillborn and Goober Midges in #18-20 should be all you need to know, but make sure to have a good supply of smaller Griffith’s Gnats or Buzzballs in case you start to see clusters riding the surface film.
