With the warmer weather the Madison River bumped up and went off color. It is getting better each and every day with the cooler weather and continues to fish extremely well.
The spring weather of last week made the run off start a bit early. It made the river a little dirty and off colored. The majority of the color is coming from the West fork of the Madison which meets the Madison River just south of Lyons Bridge. If you stand on the bridge you can see that one half of the river is green and the other half coming out of the west fork is brown. By the time the river gets to Palisades it is fully mixed with about a foot of visibility.
We have still been doing really well in the float section. The best set up is a slinky sculpin pattern with either a worm or stone fly behind it. Fish this close to the bank and swim it downstream. We have been having the best luck in the softer water near the banks and the big slicks behind rocks. Also, we have been throwing on a big soft hackle in the afternoons when the BWOs are out and having a bunch of success. The guys wade fishing above Lyons bridge are reporting some very good fishing on nymphs and streamers and the occasional dry fly eater in a big slick or side current.
With the cold weather predicted for the remainder of the week we expect the river to continue to stabilize drop a little each day and the clarity to improve each and every day. We also expect the fishing to improve or at least continue to fish very well. Our best bet is if you are floating stick with the big stuff near the bank to stay bent. If your wade fishing drive above the west fork and fish $3 bridge area.
