Madison River

Dam: 942 cfs

Kirby: 994 cfs

Varney: 1,200 cfs

Spring has officially sprung throughout the Madison Valley, and fishing has been heating up all over SW Montana.  The rainbows are starting to make their presence known between Hebgen and Quake, and we are even starting to see a few spawning redds pop up between Cabin Creek and the Dam.  Good reports are coming in from Nymph fishermen that have been doing well with midges, red brassies & copper johns, rainbow warriors, and egg patterns and we’ve been getting into some really nice fish on olive sex dungeons and other sculpin imitations over the last few days (even in 36-37 degree water). We’ve also heard a lot of good reports coming in from below Varney Bridge…while the town access site is still closed, you can still hop out at 8-mile or Burnt Tree, and I would guess that you should be able to take out in town in another week or so the way the snow has been melting down there.  Water temps have been creeping into the upper 40′s in that stretch, and while fish have been actively chasing streamers some days, you’ll probably do the most damage with midges, Pat’s Rubber Legs, baetis nymphs, and egg patterns with enough weight to get right on the bottom.  Look for decent numbers of Skwallas in the weeks to come down there, and make sure to bring you BWO/Midge boxes when the clouds start moving in.  The forecast is calling for highs in the mid fifties with a 30-40% chance of showers for the rest of the week, so try and get out there and enjoy the warm weather while you can..you know it’s not going to last.

Just a reminder that the Madison between Quake Lake & McAtee Bridge is closed until May 18th, as is the section from Ennis Bridge to Ennis Lake

Madison River

Dam: 910 cfs

Kirby: 959 cfs

Varney: 1,050 cfs

The cold snap last Thursday made for some tough fishing over the next few days, particularly down by Ennis,  as water temps dropped between 6-8 degrees above their normal highs. Sunday was a different story though, and we saw more than a few bent rods from nymph, dry fly, and streamer fishermen in the wade section, so look for fishing to heat up again this week.  The forecast is calling for highs in the 60′s with night-time lows hovering around 30 degrees, so it appears that a second wind of Indian Summer is headed our way.  There have been a lot of Pseudos hitting the water between noon and 3:00, and while the actual bug is between a #22-#24, you can usually take trout on a well presented #20 BWO when you see heads up in the slicks.  One of our most productive baetis duns this time of year is Rowan Nyman’s BWO Cripple with a black wing, so you might want to grab a couple at the shop before heading out to your favorite dry fly flat.  Nymph fishermen have been doing best on a variety of midge larva/pupa imitations trailed behind baetis nymphs/emergers, but it never hurts to try a black rubber leg or small caddis larva this time of year either.  Streamer fishing has started to pick up again as well, and we had some great action yesterday on little barely legals in olive & White, yellow double screamers, and olive peanut envys.  We have also heard recent reports of some larger browns being caught throughout the Madison in the park, and we’re guessing that the colder weather last week brought a good push of fish up from Hebgen…so if you’re looking for a pig, that would be a good place to throw something large and in charge right now.  The Madison between the lakes is still pretty warm for this time of year, as the water has been coming over the top of the dam for the better part of the summer, but we are still seeing some good fish trickle in every day.  It could be a week or two before water temperatures become low enough to trigger a larger volume of migratory fish up into the river system.  Long story short, if you don’t have anything too important to do around your neck of the woods, try and find an excuse to wet a line in the Upper Madison sometime this week–it’ll be worth your while.