Hebgen Dam: 806 cfs
Kirby: 909 cfs
Varney: 1,090 cfs
The Upper Madison has been fishing decent over the last several weeks, but there definitely have been some tough days in the mix as well. Flows out of Hebgen dropped to 800 cfs yesterday and we should see them hovering around there for the foreseeable future. Otherwise the leaves are starting to turn colors, crowds have been slowing down, and our resident browns are starting to put on their Halloween costumes so life is good over here in the Madison Valley.
We have been getting a lot of calls asking about the streamer fishing on the Upper Madison. While it has gotten a lot better than what we saw earlier in the month, it’s still not in full swing quite yet. We have been doing best from dawn until sun up and then again in the evening with articulated patterns such as Peanut Envys, Mini Kill Whiteys, Flat Head Kitties, Double Screamers, and Sex Dungeons fished tight to the bank and moving them with a pretty aggressive retrieve. Despite slowing down during the late morning and afternoon hours, we are still seeing some really good fish hitting the net so keep pulling the string and good things can happen out there.
Aside from streamer fishing, there hasn’t been a lot going on before 9:00 am so don’t feel too bad about sleeping in if you are planning on throwing nymphs or dry flies. We are doing best on midge larva/pupa initiations, BWO nymphs and emergers, and smaller Perdigons throughout the day. Some folks have been getting them on smaller stonefly nymphs and worms as well, but the smaller bugs have been far more consistent. Some of our better patterns this week have been Zebra Midges, Olive Hot Spots, Weiss’ BP, Juju Baetis, Jujubees, and BWO Barr’s Emergers all of which have been between #18-#20.
If you are still searching for some good dry fly fishing you are in luck…the warmer weather has the hopper and ant bite going again and it should continue until we start getting some colder temperatures and rain. Tan and Flesh hoppers and Chernobyl style patterns are still getting good fish to look up throughout the Upper Madison, with the most consistent fishing happening between noon and 4:00 pm.. I would also suggest sticking between Lyon’s and Varney Bridge as the terrestrial fishing above and below this section has not been as productive. If you can’t seem to get them to look up and don’t want to watch a bobber, throw a little tungsten BWO or darker perdigon 2-3′ off the hopper and you should get some nice fish to eat the dropper.
