Dam: 834 cfs
Kirby: 1,000 cfs
Varney: 1,390 cfs
The Upper Madison continues to fish extremely well this month. Flows are still holding at 834 cfs out of Hebgen Dam and have been hovering between 900-1000 cfs above the West Fork for the better part of two weeks now. We have some cooler weather in the forecast with some much needed precipitation as well.
There’s still not a ton of good dry fly fishing to be had quite yet…some days you’ll have an hour or so of fish eating midges or BWO’s in the upper wade section but it’s still not that great. Nymphing on the other hand has been good to excellent almost every day. Pat’s rubber legs in #8-#10, #18-20 BWO nymphs/emergers, #18-#20 Midge larva/pupa, San Juan Worms, Darker Perdigons in #16-18, and $3 Dips in #16-18 have been doing some serious work throughout the upper river and it should only get better with the low pressure moving in this week. Just make sure you’re tapping bottom on the deeper run and hitting the faster seams as water temps start to peak later in the afternoon and you will get it done out there.
Streamer fishing has been getting a lot better this week as well. Not too much going on first thing in the morning, but the afternoon bite has been good from around 1 until dark. Mini and standard dungeons, Envys, Boogie Men, and Double Screamers have been some of our better patterns and most of the bigger browns were are seeing continue to be in relatively shallow water within 3 feet of the bank – Just keep changing your color and profile until you crack the code.
As always, be sure to watch your step out there (or where you drop your anchor) if you plan on heading over, as there are quite a few spawning redds throughout the entire river. If you do encounter cleared gravel, be sure to walk in front of the redd rather than behind as most of the eggs wind up 3-10 ft behind the actual spawning bed.
