Madison River Fishing Report for June 10th, 2023
Dam: 944 cfs
Kirby: 1,560 cfs
Varney: 2,730 cfs
The Upper Madison continues to fish well this month with nymphs and streamers, and it won’t be long before we are throwing dry flies to rising fish around here. Clarity has been fluctuating between 2′-3’+ above the West Fork of the Madison and the float section between Lyon’s Bridge and Ennis is now fishable top to bottom. We’ve had more consistent luck up high but the lower river should continue to improve with each passing day. NorthWestern Energy has been lowering flows out of Hebgen since May 31st, and my guess is that they won’t go much lower than 700-800 cfs for the rest of the month, as they attempt to bring Hebgen close to full pool. As of today Hebgen is 91% full, and with plenty of snow in Yellowstone National Park and rain in the forecast every day there is no doubt that they will fill it here shortly.
Fishing in the wade section between Quake and Lyons has been good to downright exceptional over the last week with both nymphs and streamers. As we mentioned in our last report, fish have been more wary of larger stonefly patterns and worms as the water levels have dropped and clarity has improved. That said, if you can’t get them on the bigger stuff, smaller patterns such as Tungsten Rednecks, Juju Baetis, Olive Caddis Larva, Z-Wing Caddis, small perdigons, and Kelly’s BWO nymphs have all been working great out there.
With falling water and improved visibility, the float section has also been fishing well lately. Larger nymphs such as Pat’s Rubber Legs and Worms trailing Caddis Larva or attractors have been doing well out there, and the streamer fishing has been really good as well. Black, Olive, Natural, and Yellow Dungeons, Olive Boogie Man, and black and olive Envys have been our best patterns again this week, and we are finding most of the larger fish super tight to the bank. Mid to late June is our favorite time to fish streamers on the Upper Madison so don’t be afraid to string up the 7 wt and start looking for a biggin’.
