On The River Again!

July 15th, 2011 | Posted by: Mary A

Okay, so it isn’t the Yellowstone, but the Upper Madison is a great river to go fish from time to time, particularly when we’re just now seeing our home river dip below 20,000 cfs in town here.  So we headed that direction yesterday, putting in below the crowds up higher on the river. Finally. We got to catch fish on our beloved gold Chubby Chernobyl again! We switched the dries up a fair amount, trying patterns both new and old, and managed to catch a fish on just about everything we tried both on top. We also got them below the surface, using caddis emergers, stone fly nymphs and streamers.

Holy Hail

And what day wouldn’t be complete without a little weather in Montana? A little sun, a little wind, a little rain and a little hail rounded out the day for us.  I’m just glad I wasn’t the one who forgot my rain jacket…

Don’t forget-the PMD’s are still out on the spring creeks in the afternoons, so next time you’re over this direction stop by the shop and we’ll show you our favorite nymph patterns that you can fish while you wait for those noses to come up. FYI-our other home waters are on the verge of being in fishable shape (yep, some are more on the verge than others). Here in the shop we’re gearing up for another great, if somewhat condensed, hopper season.  See ya soon!

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To the Madison we go…

July 14th, 2011 | Posted by: Mary A

We’ve been hearing reports of a salmonfly/guide boat hatch on the Upper Madison, so a few of us from the shop are heading over there this morning to fish the frenzy.  Stay tuned for the report this evening…

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Lower Madison Update

June 25th, 2010 | Posted by: Sweetwater

I floated Warm Springs to Blacks Ford Thursday evening with a friend of mine. We were optimistic as the visibility was around three foot or better and the bugs were thick. The late afternoon was good fishing rubber leg nymphs in black, brown, and olive. The evening was slower although there were a few fish on the rise in soft spots and below islands. There was a good mix of caddis, pmd’s, and yellow sally’s. The salmon flies were not happening. I saw a few last week but nothing this week. The flows have been pretty inconsistent as well as the water temps so that may have put the hatch down. Best to look to catch them above Ennis lake in the next week or two.

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Lower Madison

June 17th, 2010 | Posted by: Sweetwater

With all of our rivers experiencing near flood stage flows, the lower Madison has been one of the best options to fish a river.  Hebgen and Ennis dams usually slows the runoff but this year, Ennis lake is a bit of a mud hole.  The visibility was about a foot when we pulled into warm springs parking lot.  The flows have gone down a bit over there but the mud is still pouring out of the lake.  Fishing was slow but we did manage to pick a few fish up dead drifting streamers with rubber legs or worm droppers.  The fish were in the buckets where the water slowed a bit.  There were hatches of PMD’s as well as caddis coming off but only saw a few rises.  Salmon flies are on the horizon as we saw a handful floating down the river or clinging to the bushes on the banks.  This hatch should bring fish to the top regardless of the water clarity.  Cherry creek is still muddying up the river a bit with a darker mud than what is coming out of the lake so stay above this or work the other side of the river.

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