River Flows
Hebgen Dam: 699 cfs
Kirby: 942 cfs
Varney: 1,140 cfs
Fishing on the Upper Madison has picked up this week, and we are in seeing good numbers of bugs hatching from top to bottom. Flows are still a little low for the last week in June but there is certainly enough water to make it interesting in both the float and the wade stretches of the river. We should start to see a little bump here shortly with the incoming precipitation over the weekend, and a little cloud cover and cooler temps never hurts the fishing around here.
Salmonflies made it upriver in a hurry over the last week and the bulk of the hatch is currently between Pine Butte and Windy Point — We should start to see them up by Raynolds and Three Dollar Bridge any day now. The hatch has been both fractured and lower in numbers this year, but you will get some shots at some dandies if you keep throwing the bug in all the rights spots. If fishing the big dry isn’t your thing, you can find PMDs, Yellow Sallies, Epeorus, Flavs, tons of caddis, and a few Green Drakes hatching on most sections of the Madison right now, and the best bite window seems to be in that 10 am – 3 pm stretch and then again in the evening.
Nymphs have been producing fish in good numbers in the upper stretches, but fish are starting to get picky in the middle and lower sections so keep changing up those bugs until you start to see results. Smaller Perdigons, PMD nymphs and emergers, Yellow Sally Nymphs, Caddis Larva and Pupa, and Three Dollar Dips have all been good choices lately.
Streamer Fishing has been decent most mornings and evenings when there isn’t a lot of bug activity. — Smaller baitfish patterns like Barely Legals, Mini Silk Kitties, and Mini Whiteys as well as sculpin patterns are all good choices right now. All the cloud cover in the forecast for the next 4-5 days looks promising though, so don’t be afraid to string up the sinking line if the mood catches you right
