Madison River
Dam: 832 cfs
Kirby: 923 cfs
It’s been a chilly one out there this week, and we got word that the lower river down by Ennis was a bit on the slushy side yesterday afternoon, so you may want to head more towards the wade section between Quake and Lyons if you plan on heading up this way. With water temps dropping into the mid-thirties and low-forties, nymphs are definitely the way to go if you are looking for numbers. Small serendipities, zebra midges, rubber legs, eggs, and baetis nymphs will be your best bets from now all the way through the Winter months, until the general fishing season closes on February 28th. With the sudden shift in temperatures, we have been seeing good numbers of midges popping from late in the morning and on into the afternoon, so make sure to have a few gray or black adult imitations like a Stillborn or ARF Midge in sizes 18-22, as well as a few griffiths gnats or your favorite cluster pattern in the same sizes. Streamer fishing has started to slow down a little bit, but the hunt is far from over in November. We are still getting plenty of buttery-brown slobs to show themselves throughout the Upper River and the usual fare of sex dungeons, silk kitties, peanuts, and the like have been doing the most damage as of late. We are starting to do a lot better on the slower-style jig rather than ripping it, but that’s usually how it goes when water temps start to drop below forty five degrees up here.
