Madison River

Dam: 1,950 cfs

Kirby: 3,220 cfs

Varney: 5,290 cfs

After a tough couple of days due to dropping water levels, the Madison has stabilized once again and has been fishing very well.  Visibility remains at just over a foot, and all the creeks are still gushing with mud…even Squaw Creek which I’ve never seen turn chocolate brown like it was yesterday.  That being said, the worm bite has really picked up on the river as more and more wriggling annelids are being ousted from their earthly dwellings– The San Juan color of choice has been hot pink, but we also got some good reports from anglers fishing the more common red worm as well.  There’s still not a lot of bug activity going on in the wade section, but we have seen quite a few of the large gray spotted sedges dancing on the surface ( size 8-10) as well as a few grannoms (#16) thrown into the mix.  Fish have been rising sporatically to midge clusters in the mornings, but not enough to make us take off the indicators.  Speaking of which, the nymphing has been excellent over the last two days.  The stonefly/rubberleg bite is still day to day, but again, the worm bite has more than made up for it.  Our best droppers have been #16 red krystal serendipitys, #16-18 purple lighting bugs, #16 $3 dips, #16-18 caddis larva, and #18 red and black midge pupa.  When the clouds have rolled in, baetis nymphs and emergers have been doing well too.

As far as where to fish, we would still recommend concentrating your efforts between Raynolds and Lyons Bridges, as there tends to be more holding water at these flows.  We did drift down to Windy Point the other day, but both boats never got a fish while floating.  However, every likely place they stopped was very productive, particularly the first two miles below Lyons Bridge.

As always, we will keep you up to date as conditions change, and hope to see a bunch of you up here for the big weekend.

Madison River

Dam: 1,910 cfs

Kirby: 2,910 cfs

Varney: 4,440 cfs

As the water continues to drop, fish seem to be scrambling for new holding water, and its been a tough couple of days on the Upper Madison.  We are seeing tons of caddis pop, but pupa imitations, as well as everything that had been working (ie. baetis nymphs, midges, worms, caddis larva, etc) don’t seem to tearing it up at the moment. Visibility continues to improve little by little, but I think its safe to say that it will definitely be a little tough out there until the water stabilizes.  Fishing is still good between the lakes, but you will run into a lot more people, and, as always, please watch out for redds.

Madison River

Dam: 2,490 cfs

Kirby: 3,990 cfs

Varney: 6,430 cfs

Our head guide, Steve Mock, just returned with two very happy clients about ten minutes ago.  Steve said the fishing was outstanding from Raynolds all the way down to the West Fork Bridge, and his top producers were red and pink san juan worms, baetis nymphs, and #16 three dollar dips.   That being said, I think it would be worth your while to head up here this weekend before we start to see the crowds show up next week

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Water levels above the West Fork rose about 300 cfs since yesterday, and our foot of visibility was cut in half as of this morning.  The bulk of the mud has now settled into Quake, and it looks like we’ll have dirty water for a while.  We had decent reports from the Wade Section yesterday…not excellent, but good none the less.  With the rising water level, make sure to bring some pink or red san juans with you this weekend, as well as a good supply of rubberlegs and small droppers.  The bite will probably be off a little today, but those of you who have fished the mud around here know how good it can be once the river stabilizes.  We have a guide trip going out this morning, and we’ll be sure to let you know how they did, as well as those who stop in the shop.