Fishing Report Upper Madison River 05-04-16

The past couple of days have been unusually warm (75 degrees) for this time of year. The warm temps have pushed some snow melt into the West Fork and therefore into the Madison. Fishing is fairly decent given the conditions but with weather forecasted in the 70s all week the river will remain cloudy for the next few days. Float fishing has been solid from Lyons to Ruby and wade fisherman are picking up fish in the braids and side channels. Anything above the West Fork is pretty clear and fishing well on nymphs and streamers. Our best set up right now is nymphing with a large stone fly or pheasant tail and a worm as a trailer. For streamer fishing, swimming a sculpin down the banks and stripping a white bugger through the shallows and braids have been most productive. Caddis are pretty thick right now but the fish aren’t looking up until late afternoon. If you want to throw caddis dries, go out in the evening and you’re sure to sting a few fish. Hopefully this is the last push of runoff for the year so pay close attention to the flows and as soon as it starts to drop the fish will be on the feed. Don’t let the clarity scare you off the river, get out and enjoy the warm weather and sting a few fish.