Madison River

Hebgen Dam: 671 cfs

Kirby: 1050 cfs

Any fear of water shortages has been laid to rest, as the Madison River drainage finally reached its 100% average today…and were not done yet.  For more information on snow pack/ moisture content throughout the state click here. Its been a wet couple of weeks, but the fishing has only got better.  We have been seeing good numbers of midges and BWOs in the early afternoons, as well as March Browns thrown into the mix, and fish have been taking advantage of their presence.  Nymphing is still the way to go if you’re looking for numbers.  Large rubber legs and San Juans seem to be the real head turners at the moment, but we are still picking up 50% of the fish on the dropper– baetis nymphs, midges, and caddis larva have all been good out there.  Streamer fishing has picked up in a big way, as the river continues to pick up a little more color with each passing day.  DO NOT BE AFFRAID OF THIS…JUST CHANGE YOUR COLOR.  Black will give you the best silhouette on overcast days, but once the sun hits the water make sure you have a yellow dungeon or a black/olive double screamer on the end of your line, as we have been picking up some fatties on those as well.

Dry Flies:  Stillborn Midge: Black #20, Griffith’s Gnat #18-22, Sparkle Dun: BWO #18-20, Galloup’s AP Mayfly #14-16, Tilt Wing Dun: Brown #16

Nymphs:  Galloup’s Warbird: Black, Coffee/Black #8, Stallcup’s Tungsten Yellow Sallie #16, $3 Dip, Nyman’s Thin Mint Baetis #18-20, Micro Mayfly: Olive #18-20, Silvermen’s Caddis Larva #14, San Juan Worm: Pink, Wine, Red

Streamers:  Sex Dungeon: Olive, Black, Yellow,  Double Screamer: Olive/Black, Yellow, Peanut Envy: Olive, Black, Butt Monkey: Olive, Black, Grey

Madison River

Hebgen Dam: 688 cfs

Kirby:  959 cfs

What an opener!  Opening weekend on the Upper Madison was filled with partly-cloudy skies, sixty degree temperatures, gin-clear water, and very willing trout.  The fishing wasn’t on fire, but it was still pretty damn good.  There were some decent heads up on BWOs and midges in the afternoon, but nymphing was definitely the way to go.  Small golden stones and sallies, midges, caddis larva, san juans, and baetis nymphs have been the way to go with the lower flows, but with the creeks just starting to kick in mud we’ll be throwing rubber legs before you know it.   We are also seeing an unusual amount of skwallas in the wade section, and we’ve had a few customers tell us that fish are looking up for them.  The West Fork is throwing a pretty good stripe of chocolate milk well past Lyon’s Bridge, as are Cabin and Beaver Creek between the lakes, and its looking more and more like the mud will reach the outlet of Quake within the next few days.  Streamer fishing has been good as well…we haven’t had any epic days like we did last year for the opener, but we are still catching plenty of healthy fish.