Madison River

Dam: 1,310 cfs

Kirby: 1,420 cfs

Varney: 1,590 cfs

It’s been a hot one out there for the better part of two weeks, and water temps are now peaking at around 71 degrees at Kirby…not so good for the afternoon bite.  If you are planning on wetting a line in the Upper Madison these days I would highly recommend getting on the water as early as possible, fishing until noon-thirty, and heading back out after 6:30 p.m. as the fishing has actually been really good during these time frames.  Various serendipitys, hare’s ears, and epeorus emergers in the #16-18 range have been the flies of choice under the indicator, as have soft hackles trailed behind a zonker.  As far as dries are concerned, our nocturnal stones are now scattered throughout the river, and periods of low light have made for some great dry fly fishing with smaller chubby chernobyls, fat alberts, and other foam creatures.  Spruce Moths have starting to hatch below Lyons, and while we’ve had a couple of “good” falls so far, it has been a little more inconsistent as far as numbers of them are concerned.  There have been a lot of hoppers down around the banks, but water temps have been a little too warm for fish to be looking up during the heat of the day.  Caddis action has been good in the wade section around 7:00 p.m. or so, but we are starting to see less bugs below Lyons these days so I would stay above the West Fork if you’re planning on heading out in the evenings.

Madison River

Dam:  1,140 cfs

Kirby: 1,310 cfs

Varney: 1,530 cfs

It’s been a hot couple of weeks throughout the state, and water temps are now peaking at around 70 degrees above the West Fork.  The forecast is calling for more reasonable weather patterns (high 70′s-low 80′s) this week, so hopefully that will cool things down a little bit.  Most of our hatches are done below Varney right now, except for nocturnal stones and a few caddis, so you’ll do best by getting on the water early down there or later on in the evening,  There are still quite a few caddis and Epeorus from Ruby Creek up to Quake lake, and even a few PMDs, but the dry fly fishing in the float section has started to get a little tough after noon-thirty…the same could be said for most of the wade section.  Not that you shouldn’t try throwing a few ants, beetles, and small attractors, but if you are looking for numbers then the indicator has been the way to go.  We’ve been doing best on Epeorus and caddis emergers, as well as small lightning bugs and assorted serendipitys, but don’t hesitate to throw a #8 Tan/Brown Pat’s Rubber Leg (especially when the storms are rolling in) as we are starting to see more and more nocturnal stones from the West Fork down to 8-Mile Ford.  If you are still jonesing to throw some larger dries, try some Fat Alberts, Chubby Chernobyls, and larger hoppers during periods of low light, as these stoneflies are pretty much in the same category as vampires when it comes to the sun.

The evening caddis action has been good in the wade section, though we’ve been hearing some reports that anglers haven’t been seeing heads up eating adults.  The only advice that we can give you is to go with your gut and fish good looking water…Sometimes the only fish you see rise all night are to your fly.  If you’re just looking at the water within 10 feet of the bank, then you are missing a lot of opportunities, as some of the larger fish are holding in the faster seams and pockets in order to escape from the heat.  Wade a little further out, and you will find more fish.  Another system that has been working well is fishing a larger elk hair or parachute caddis and dropping a #16-18 diving caddis like a tan Silvey’s Diving caddis or Kelly’s downed caddis behind it, as many of our species oviposit.  The Eperous spinner falls seem to be happening about 30 minutes before dark, so make sure to drop a #14-16 rusty spinner off your caddis around 9:00 p.m., and you won’t have to wonder when the fish start keying in on them.

Madison River

Dam: 1,120 cfs

Kirby: 1,290 cfs

Varney: 1,640 cfs

The Upper Madison continues to fish very well these days, and although the dry fly fishing isn’t quite as good as the three week extravaganza we had from late June on, fish are still looking up and the nymph fishing has been very consistent.  Small dries are the name of the game right now until we have our nocturnal stones show up in the float section (hoppers won’t be far behind either), and a variety of PMD, Flav, and hare’s ear parachutes have been taking some nice fish throughout the Upper River.  We are still seeing tons of caddis in the wade section, but the morning swarms we were seeing as little as a week ago in the float section seem to have slowed down a little bit; however, you will still find plenty of egg layers in the evening and fish looking for them–On the tougher evenings, diving caddis dropped below a larger elk hair or X-caddis have been the answer.  We’ve also had a lot of cloud cover over the last week, and the numbers of Epeorus that have been coming off throughout the day have been very impressive.  When fish haven’t been looking up for them, we’ve been doing best on soft hackles and PMD Barr’s Emergers a foot or two off the bottom.