Madison River Fishing Report for May 10th, 2019
Dam: 1,500 cfs
Kirby: 1,670 cfs
Varney: 2,040 cfs
The Upper Madison continues to fish extremely well, and it appears that we may have turned a corner today, as highs in the sixties and seventies are in the forecast for at least the next week. That should definitely get the creeks going, and I think it’s safe to say that our Spring runoff is just around the corner. We have seen the West Fork of the Madison and Cabin/Beaver Creeks putting in some dirty water over the last five days but the colder nights have prevented them from really getting going. A little color is never a bad thing though, and the upper portions of the river will continue to fish through the rise as long as it comes up gradually.
Nymphs and streamers are still the best way to go, but we should start to see have some better dry fly fishing when the afternoon winds start to die down. Also worth noting is that the warmer weather should get the Mother’s Day Caddis and March Browns going on the mid to lower river — It’ll be primarily Midges and Blue Wing Olives up high for a bit but we should see some caddis hatching as well. We are still doing well on larger nymphs such as Pat’s Rubber Legs, Worms, Zirdles in the float section but it’s definitely been more of a small fly game in the wade section between Quake and Lyon’s Bridge over the last week. Zebra Midges, Jujubee Midges, $3 Dips, Kelly’s BWO Nymph, BWO Barr’s Emergers, Juju Baetis, and Olive or Green Caddis Larva have been the most consistent producers for us, but we should start to see them get back on stoneflies and worms once we get some color in the river. Just make sure you have enough weight to get your flies on the bottom and you should do well out there.
Streamer fishing has been hit and miss, but we have had some good days out there once the water temperatures start to hit that 46-47 degree mark. CH Barely Legals, Trevor Sculpin, Mini Dungeons, Double Screamers, and Peanut Envys have been some of our better patterns and they have actually been eating them on a fairly quick retrieve during the afternoon hours. They should start chasing ever better with the warmer temps heading our way this weekend.
As always, please watch your step if you are wade fishing this time of year as the rainbows are in full spawning mode and will continue to be for the next 4-6 weeks. If you do see cleared gravel synonymous with a spawning bed please remember to walk in front of the redds rather than behind them as most of the eggs typically wind up 3-10 feet downstream.
