Madison River
Dam: 880 cfs
Kirby: 1,030 cfs
Varney: 1,230 cfs
The weather patterns have been unseasonably warm for this little corner of the World, with highs in the mid-sixties to low-seventies over the last couple of weeks. We have finally started to see our larger Fall Baetis (#20’s) emerging this week, which has been taking place anytime between noon and 1:30 p.m. depending on the day. Nymph fishing continues to be your best option for numbers right now, and some of our favorite Fall patterns in the wade section are Kelly’s BWO nymph in #18-20, Hogan’s S&M Nymph in #18, BWO Barr’s Emergers in #20, Triple-B Flashback Emergers in #18-20, Black or Red Zebra Midges, Olive/Brown Pat’s Rubber Legs in #8-10, #18 $3 Dips, and Green Caddis Larva in #16-18. Streamer Fishing has slowed down considerably in the Upper River, and a lot of us agree that we need some cooler weather to come in and stir the proverbial pot…That’s not to say that you can’t go out there and get into some quality fish on junk right now, but just be aware that you will probably have to work for them a lot more than you might be used to for the second week of October. If you are looking for the best streamer action, I would concentrate your efforts between Quake and Lyon’s Bridge as well as between Varney Bridge and Valley Garden, as the streamer bite in those sections has been far more consistent. We’ve been doing much better nymphing rubber legs and baetis nymphs below Lyon’s over the last week rather than stripping big stuff, and the zonker/beadhed rig has been equally as effective most days. The streamer bite between the lakes seems to be pretty slow as well, but that should all change as water tempertures continue to drop and more fish begin to enter the system.
