Madison River
Dam: 1,180 cfs
Kirby: 2,040 cfs
Varney: 3,280 cfs
Down she goes….Not that the Upper Madison is running low by any means, but it’s definitely a whole lot lower than we thought we’d be seeing this time of year. PPL has been stepping down the outflow from Hebgen this week and we are now running a full 1,000 cfs less at the Kirby gauge then we saw just five days ago. Despite the change in water levels, the fishing continues to be incredible throughout the wade section. We are running at roughly 10-12″ of visibility above the West Fork, but Beaver Creek has started to green up a little bit over the last few days. If I had to guess, we should start to see visibility improve a little bit by later next week, but don’t expect to get over 2 feet for at least another two weeks or so. The epic worm bite has died down considerably, but that is to be expected with falling water. The rubber leg bite is still going strong, but they have been getting a little more specific on the colors as of late. Black has certainly been the most consistent, but I would make sure to carry a few in olive, brown, and tan/brown as well. Aside from the usual fare of stoneflies and worms we have also been doing well on little baetis nymphs, purple lightning bugs, princes, olive hares ears, and caddis larva. Streamer fishing is still hit or miss. One day you might go out there and drill 50 fish and come back the next day to a river seemingly devoid of meat eaters. We should start to see them chase a little more consistently as visibility improves but throwing junk is still well worth your time right now.
