Five Cure’s for the Common After Salmon Fly Blues
Five Cure’s for the Common After Salmon Fly Blues Salmon fly season is a crazy time for dedicated fisherman, guides and shop staff alike. The arctic like days are at their longest of the year, fishing late is the norm and taking out with headlamps at 10:30 is common practice to catch the evening rise and make the most of this special time. This leaves all involved drained physically and mentally right when the bulk of the season is still in front of us. Here are 5 reasons to recharge ...
Read MoreKorkers Buckskin Mary Women’s Wading Boot
Ladies! Style and function have never come so easily together than with the Korkers Buckskin Mary wading boot. New to 2017, the Mary is the first boot of its kind. This is the first wading boot made by Korkers that is designed specifically for women, making it the most unique boot in its class. This boot has performance and comfort for badass women anglers around the world. The Mary has superior traction and dries very fast. It's outfitted with the standard omnitrax interchangeable sole syste...
Read More
2017 Orvis Outfitter of the Year–The Tackle Shop
We are very honored and humbled to be awarded the 2017 Orvis Outfitter of the Year Award at the Guides Rendezvous this past April. This is a huge award and a goal of all Orvis Endorsed Operations world wide. Orvis has been giving out these awards for over 30 years to give recognition to an excellent operation yearly. Voting for the award comes from direct feedback from customers, guests and others in the industry as well as the operations commitment and actions in conservation and com...
Read More
Proper Fish Handling techniques
t’s a hot summer day in Ennis Montana and you’ve been on the river all day in pursuit of the mythical 20 inch brown that currently is in your net. This fish has eluded you all day, finally you get the chance to take a picture with it and show everyone just how good of an angler you are. You hoist the fish up, straight arm it towards the camera in hopes of making 20 look more like 24 inches, and ya let it go. After the releasing that trout, high fives are exchanged, and only the ...
Read More
Our 5 Best Salmon Fly Dries for the Madison River
It is that time of year and everyone is salmon fly crazy around Montana. People talk in hushed tones at the bars about where the hatch is and where they are eating the dry fly. Of the thousands of fisherman that try and hit the hatch each year there are an equal number of theories on how to fish the hatch. But, without the proper tools and the right dry flies you can't make the most of your time on the water. The salmon fly hatch can be a fickle mistress and even if your are in th...
Read More
Our Guide Trips have Kicked Plastic
If you have ever been near the ocean you probably have seen the vast amounts of plastic trash floating or washed up on the beaches. In fact, almost all the plastic ever created is still with us today. To combat this and try and do our little part to make the planet a better place we have decided to kick plastic on all of our guided fishing trips. Each guest will be give a aluminum water bottle that they can keep at the end of the trip. Our guides will have bulk water in the cooler ...
Read More
Embrace the Girdle Bug
Embrace the Girdle bug You might know this fly by a bunch of different names such as Pats, Pedro, turd, rubber leg but for the next month or so if you are fishing the Madison River you need to embrace the girdle bug. The first rubber leg stone fly nymphs in this genre were tied with the rubber from a women’s’ girdle hence the name. From the first time rubber legs were added on a stone fly nymph the world changed and this style has been the go to. It is now tied in the rainbow o...
Read More
If you read only one article about the Salmon Fly Hatch on the Madison River Read this one.
Everyone is going salmon fly crazy even though we are still a few weeks away from the main Hatch on the Madison River. Yes there have been reports of toilet bowl rises and spot hatches of bugs on the Big Hole but the real wave is still some time off for us Madisonites. We have been getting calls daily from booked guests wondering if their dates are still good, what the "epic high water" they have been hearing about will do and when we will start to see bugs. Lets break this down one by o...
Read MoreMuddy Water Madness
June has arrived and with it, the high muddy water that fly-fisherman dread. This is typically a time where anglers put their rods away and turn to the vice to restock fly boxes for the coming months. Muddy water tends to scare the average fly-fisherman into thinking "If I can't see the bottom I can't fish!". WRONG! Just because the water is murky doesn't mean the fish have stopped feeding. High muddy water can be an excellent chance for the ambitious angler to avoid the crowds while stickin...
Read More
June Madison River Montana Newsletter
Dear Friends, June has arrived and we are full steam ahead. Town is getting that summer Buzz that we love, the weather is improving by the day, and shorts and sandals are now the norm. We love summer and it shows. Our seasonal staff has arrived and they are ready to help you in the store. Next time your in town stop by and say Hi to James and Austin. Take a look at their bio's below. Our guides are chomping at the bit to be pulling oars each day and the river, while...
Read More