Fishing Report for the Madison River 7/5

River Conditions

The Madison River is in great shape. The cold and rainy and snow we got last week saved our summer and refreshed the river. The Dam is full and the river has plenty of water in it right now. Currently the flow is 1120 CFS at Kirby Ranch and 56 Degrees. At Varney the flow is 1370 CFS and a temp of 57 degrees. This is right in the sweet spot for the Madison. The creeks will start to decrease inflow in the river and the general level will drop slightly. Otherwise we are set up for some great fishing going forward.

Dry Fly

The salmon flies are gone for another year. If you got a few days of throwing the big bug you know how good it was. The rain and dark did not discourage the fish from looking for the big meal. Already thinking of next years hatch. With that said there is still some darn good dry fly fishing on the horizon. We currently have the larger golden stones, yellow sallies, caddis of all shapes and colors along with several species of may flies. The dry fly fishing on the Madison is really good right now. We have been liking the dry dropper for the morning. This is a small chubby or other tasty golden with a dropper of a prince family or a jiggy caddis larva. The caddis start moving in the water about 11 so a caddis like nymph is always a good bet. We have been liking princes, tung darts, blow torches and duracels. All are catching fish as a dropper. As for the dry we like tan to brown small size 10 chubbies along with burkus stones. Both have been attracting attention.

Once the mid day point it is time to go just dry. We have been having lots of luck with two different combos. The first is a small chubby in the 16-18 range followed by a mayfly. We like the purple haze but a adams will work just fine as well. The may flies out there are two types. The first is the small PMD types. The second is a larger drake. Some are green some are grey. We like purple to cover the entire family. You can also fish a small caddis. We like the loopie caddis along with the X-caddis. Both have been getting eats. The best dry fly fishing has been afternoons. The evening caddis bite has been solid as well.

Nymphs and Streamers

If you want to follow a bobber you will rack up some big numbers. Although most will be whitefish. Jig blow torches, princes, tung darts and jig PMD stuff like yellow spots have been wrecking fish lately. Just a reminder to de barb all your flies prior to fishing. This makes the handling and de hooking easier and helps keep that fish in the water and healthy. It is our job to take care of these fish and handling a fish is a huge stressor especially in warming water.

Streamers have been a little difficult lately. Lots of bugs in the soup to eat so no need to chase down other fish. If you stay with it you will find a good one. We like sparkle minnows, olive sculpin imitations and just a plain olive bugger.

Stop by the store for the best selection of flies in town. We also have the friendliest service around. Come in and talk patterns with the folks. They love to help. It is still really great fishing right now and summer in Montana is just awesome.