Madison River
Dam: 560 cfs
Kirby: 937 cfs
Varney: 1,550
Fishing has been outstanding this week throughout the Upper Madison, with almost perfect visibility and very few crowds. Streamer fishing has been good to downright e-p-i-c depending on the day, and we are still doing best on food based imitations like sculpin and fry rather than reactionary patterns. On the overcast days you can still find fish up on BWOs and midges, but we are starting to see more and more caddis popping every afternoon, especially below Palisades. The wade section between Quake Lake and Lyon’s Bridge has been nymphing very well with midges and smaller baetis nymphs in the morning and caddis larva/pupa in the afternoon…that’s not to say you shouldn’t try a rubber leg out right now, but it has been far more inconsistent up high– Below Lyon’s Bridge is a whole different story. The colossal migration of salmonfly and golden stones nymphs is already well underway, and if air and water temperatures continue on their current trend I wouldn’t be surprised if we started to see big bugs popping around Ennis in just over a week. It’s anybody’s guess, but I’ll toss my hat in the ring and say there will be adults by Varney Bridge on June 14th. In the meantime, you could do worse than heading over to the Madison right about now…great fishing, solitude, and beautiful weather…what’s not to like?
