Madison River Fishing Report

Madison River Fishing Report for July 13th, 2019

Dam: 1,150 cfs

Kirby: 1,430 cfs

Varney: 1,920 cfs

It’s been another great week of fishing on the Upper Madison, and the afternoon thunderstorms have been keeping our creeks full and our water temps nice and cool.  It’s looking like another week of highs in the mid 70’s to low 80’s with more storms on the way through Wednesday, and the dry fly fishing continues to produce some high quality fish throughout the entire river.

Salmonflies are still going strong from Raynold’s down to Windy Point, with the bulk of the hatch now residing above the West Fork of the Madison.  You will also find a bunch of Golden Stones in these areas as well, and while we’ve seen them all the way down to Ruby Creek their numbers are starting to dwindle the farther downstream you go…the same could be said about boat traffic too.  We have had some incredible big bug action from late morning and on through the afternoon hours especially when the clouds roll in.  We should have them in the float stretch for a few more days, but luckily there are a ton of other insects hatching to keep fish looking up.  Caddis, PMDs, Yellow Sallies, Epeorus, and Green Drakes can still be found in abundance all the way down to Ennis, but the Drakes are definitely more visible in the upper portions of the river.  Evening caddis action has been outstanding as well, and you want to be on the river from 7:00 until dark – Just make sure you have a few Olive and Tan X-Caddis in #14-18 and you will have hard time wiping the smile off your face.

If dries aren’t your thing, then you can get into them pretty good on nymphs right now.  Hare’s Ears, Dips, Sally Nymphs, Princes, Caddis Pupa, and PMD Emergers have been getting it done underneath in a big way, and we have been finding most of our good quality fish out towards the faster seams and pockets during the heat of the day.  You may also want to run a short leash system during those heavy Caddis and PMD hatches as we have found fish feeding higher up in the water column during the emergence.

Streamer Fishing is still really inconsistent, but that should change here in less than a month.  If you want to get after it, stick to sculpin and baitfish patterns and make the most of your time before sun up and after sun down.

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