Madison River Fishing Report

Madison River Fishing Report for January 9th, 2018

Dam: 996 cfs

Kirby: 1,080 cfs

Madison River fishing report.  We’ve had a bit of a warm spell recently, which has given way to far more pleasant temperatures to fish in than the single digits days we experienced in December.  As is usually the case in January, traffic has been slim to none on the weekdays and you’ll find a few other anglers on the river during the weekends, but it’s been a relative ghost town in the wade section for the most part. Our current snow pack is looking good so far, with a snow water equivalent of 106% in the Madison Range and more  heading our way through Friday evening.  Hopefully we keep getting some much needed snow in the mountains this month in order to keep our rivers and creeks running cold throughout the Summer.

Fishing on the Upper Madison has remained good to excellent since our last report, but we still are not seeing any consistency with the midge fishing this Winter. Usually you can count on a steady midge emergence from noon until about 3:00 p.m. this time of year, and while we have had some good afternoons of dry fly fishing, it is still very much day to day.  If you do find yourself on the river on one of those days, you’ll do best by fishing a single adult rather than a cluster imitation, and some of our favorite patterns are Kelly’s Goober Midge, Smoke Jumpers, and Twin Territory Tactical Midge Emergers.  The nymph fishing is still your best bet though, and a good selection of small Rubber Legs, #18-20 Hare’s Ears, #18 $3 Dips, and #18-20 Zebra Midges is pretty much all you need to get into fish right now.  As always, make sure you are targeting the slower and deeper holes synonymous with Winter holding water and get your flies right on the bottom.  Streamer fishing is still worth your time, but don’t expect too many fish to go out of their way to chase down a big meal in 36 degree water.  Keep your retrieves low and slow, and your patterns more food based and you will get into some quality fish.

Be sure to keep checking back for another Madison River fishing report from the Slide Inn.

 

1 thought on “Madison River Fishing Report”

  1. Kelly, for one of your videos cover from the fly line to the fly. Leaders Mono vs Furlead leaders; Tippet mono vs Fluorocarbon. Can/should you use Fluoro on Dry flies? Knots…do you use the same knots on Drys, nymphs and streamers…..Loop knots on Streamers.

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