Guest Blog: The River that Makes No Sense

The River That Makes
No Sense…..

Nicky Acosta and I were grabbing dinner at the Mccallister Inn after a day on the
Madison. I was commenting that I had worked an island that looked perfect. The
water in front it formed a perfect shelf with good depth plus good current. The
water below and to the side of the island was the same. I had taken fish in a
lot less likely spots that day, and yet, the spot produced nada. Perplexed, I
said “that makes no sense.” Nicky looked at me and replied, “Scrunch, it’s the
Madison…it makes no sense.” Hmmm….that’s as good a description of the Madison
as I have ever heard, the river that makes no sense.

 Often clients who are used to fishing other rivers will look confused and ask where
to cast. They say there is no structure, no discernable feature that delineates
where a fish might lay. One client said, “When I get back to the Bitterroot,
I’m gonna hug a root wad!” We all laughed, but most of us thought that the
first time we fished the Madison.

Nicky and I also talked about the bugs we had used.
My best fly had been a big dark rubber legs. Nicky said he had success
on a smaller tan rubber legs, but, “they only wanted it behind Grand Master
Flash.” I nodded while actually wondering “what the hell is a Grand Master
Flash?” Again I said, “that makes no sense!”
Nicky just smiled. I guess being born on this river one gets used to the
idea that it makes no sense.

 I guess I’ll just have to wait for a few more years until I can look at someone and smile
and say, “Dude, It’s the Madison… It makes no sense.”

Chris Stroup