Nice Spring Weather on the Way for the Madison

Spring is finally on the way here in the Madison Valley. Today it is over 50 and a string of nice days is in the forecast. This means only one thing.  Good spring fishing is on the horizon. Get it now while we have some spring. Who knows what next week will bring.  We are currently sitting at 127% of average snow pack so we should have good water all summer along with the lakes should be completely full. Right now they are running the river at over 1000 CFS to make room for some of the snow melt that is sure to come. This will make the wade fishing a little tougher.

Access for the Float Guys

There is still a ton of snow in the valley floor.  Everything from 8 mile to the Ennis Lake is closed for boat launching.  This will take a little while to open up.  There is still 4-5 feet of ice on the banks from 8 Mile downstream and we will need some real heat to burn that out.  Places like Pallisades and Windy had snow drifts in the road but these will open sooner.   Be careful as several people needed rescue in these drifts this last week.  If your going to float do Lyons to Ruby or Mac to Varney. These are the safest bets.

What to Fish

The typical spring fare of eggs, worms, midges and stone fly nymphs will find some fish.  Remember they are cold so get them near the bottom and fish them slow.  We like large tippet 1X or 2X on a leader of 6 ft from the indicator. Find the green buckets and find the fish.  Remember they will be slow so get them down. We like a worm and midge or a stone fly and egg.  The egg bite will only get better as the weeks roll along as more and more rainbows move upriver from the lake to spawn.  We like eggs in the peach , pink and orange colors for spring.  Remember with eggs and worms pink is the color of spring.

If this is your first outing this year stop by and replace your tippet.  Most nylon decays after several months and should be swapped out regularly.  This is the start of a great season. See you all on the water.