Madison River Fishing Report for January 8th, 2019
Dam: 1,010 cfs
Kirby: 1,100 cfs
Varney: 1,050 cfs
Fishing has been good on the Upper Madison as of late, and we really haven’t seen too much in the way of traffic up here over the last week or two. Granted it has been a little on the chilly side, but it looks like we are in for some warmer temperatures through the end of the week.
Despite a pretty slow start during the last two weeks in December, we are finally starting to see some consistency in terms of dry fly fishing. There haven’t been any massive midge hatches yet, but definitely enough to get them looking up and actively feeding in pods. Some of our better dries have been Harrop’s CDC Midge Adult, Kelly’s Goober Midge, and CDC Transitional Midges in #20-22.
As per usual, the nymph fishing has been excellent most days and a few colors of zebra midges and three dollar dips in #18-20 seems to be about all you need for the time being. We’ve also had some folks in who have reported good success on small rubber legs and san juan worms as well, so it hasn’t been too difficult if you are fishing the right water. Just look for the slower seams and deeper holes synonymous with winter holding water, and you should do well out there.
With the warmer afternoon temperatures expected this week we should also see fish willing to chase a streamer a little more. Keep it small and food based and your retrieves on the slower side.
