Category: Upper Madison River

Hey everyone!!! The season is here…actually, it never really stopped:) Young Dan

here, hoping to see you all again this year as we kick off the new season! It’s March and the weather is absolutely gorgeous out for it being spring. All the action is still below McAtee Bridge as the Upper Upper Madison is closed for spawning until the 16th of May. The squalla are moving around now and the fish are gobbling them down hard. The Delektable Mega Prince in Olive and Standard, the Delektable Grey Hurless and Pat’s Rubber Legs all in sizes 6 and 8 are working really well with a caddis nymph or May Fly underneath. Double stonefly rigs are working well without weight. Caddis are always a good choice to fish with anytime of year around here. There are many caddis patterns out there that would probably work well, but the hot ones we are using are the Delektable Olive Big Spanker size 14 and 16,

Delektable Silver Spanker size 16 and 18, and a regular silver lightning bug of either size 14 or 16. You will also start seeing BWOs around. A silver or pearl lightning bug in a 14 or 16 is perfect for that BWO nymph. Well, we hope to see you guys out there soon and in the shop as well!!! Happy fishing!!! -Dan

October 2014 has seen a range of weather from some cold snowy days in the mountains and valleys to some 70 degree bluebird sunny t-shirt weather days.

 

 

For the locals, it’s time to take a deep breath with the busy season passing and get out and enjoy the outdoors on this treasured Montana shoulder season.

 

 

 

The browns have been moving about and eating hard in preparation for their spawn. Larger stonefly nymphs like the Pats Rubberlegs in brown, black, and camo green along with Delektable Mega Prince have produced a number of fish and are always great choices for this time of year. Smaller BWO, baetis, and caddis in combination with the larger stonefly nymphs have slain fish. Delektable Egghead Twisted Wires in red and ginger brown along with Delektable Little Spankers in silver and green are some examples of flies that are working.

 

 
But for the streamer addicts, this is the time of year to be throwing large, meaty streamer patterns. The more articulations the better to get those big ones! White has been my go to color but olive and black have also produced some large fish. Modulate your stripping patterns and colors if it is slow for you, but keep to the hope that a very large brown has the chance of eating your fly! Happy Fishing!

 

John

 

“Best of all he loved the fall … the fall with the tawny and grey, the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods, leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills the high blue windless skies. He loved to shoot, he loved to ride and he loved to fish.”
-Ernest Hemingway

 

 

 

 

Catch & Give for the Ennis Community Children’s School continued through the first week of October and there was record catching and corresponding donations for the kids. Thank you to all for participating and donating. Special thanks to Howard, Raymond James and Friends of Raymond James, and the Friends of Howard who generously helped with donations.

This latter half of the month has just been a kick-ass couple of weeks for fishing!! With the Fully Wild Groups coming in and cleaning up, the fish here have had to be on their most careful watch. However, with the outstanding guides we are so fortunate to have here on the Madison, these fish really didn’t stand a chance to not be pulled up for a quick hello :).

 

 

Folks headed to the river with a spirit that just didn’t care about all the work and business left behind. The pictures can tell a lot of the stories, but you would have to ask them yourselves how the river really treated them to get the full story.

 

 

Some of the hot bugs this time around are the ones that have continued working throughout the month. The dry fly has really been good with the larger caddis out there. Dan Delekta’s Your Royal Chubbiness (a new variation of the Chubby) has been absolutely slaying it for the bigger caddis. You can look for that fly in all the variations and colors next season as it will be put into the Delektable™ Fly selections in the shop next summer.

 

 

There have also been some tiny pseudo mayflies out and about and that is where your little Purple Hazes and Tiny BWO patterns (sizes 18-22) come in to play. The little nymphs like the lightning bug in silver and in pearl have been very effective for imitating that little BWO and tiny mayfly.

 

 

Black and other dark colored Girdle bugs such as Pat’s Rubber Legs and Delektable stoneflies like the Delektable Mega Prince have been working again as we see some colder weather rolling in and those bugs start to get to moving again. Once again your average caddis (size 16) is bouncing around every now and then and is going to be a choice pick for underneath paired up with a bigger bug and/or streamer.

 

 

This will lead me into the streamer bite talk now…hello!! Wow, streamers of all shapes, sizes and colors have been working with this fall and weather coming and I hope you will join in on all the fun. The best combos have been black/olive/silver, black/olive/gold, olive/brown/yellow, black/northernlights, olive/northernlights and of course, white and all its possible combos. The silhouette, as most of you might know, is also very important if not more important than color. The way it moves through water and moves water should be considered when you are picking out/tying your streamers. Bigger water= bigger flies, and skinnier water usually calls for a more slender profile. But, with the fish being as weird as they always are, they just keep us guessing and changing up all the time. So, that little bit being said, whatever you choose to throw out there, throw it with the utmost confidence and refuse to be refused:).

 

 

Friends including Ken, Hienie, Scott, and Dianna and many others caught some really nice trout and had some great action during their floats with multiple bites and catches.

 

 

Then there is the scenery on the way down the river where we have seen Moose, Bear, Eagles, and other wildlife. It’s a beautiful place here on the Madison River.

 

 

Paul Nagy and his friends had a great time catching with both nymphs and streamers. They ran into a bit of weather which most of us would see helping the bite after those warm days we had.

 

 

Towards the end of the month Howard and the Raymond James group had a great time again catching on a variety of bugs with both nymphs and streamers and a few dries. The catching continued to rock.

 

 

The best part about all the catching was the donations that resulted from catching that benefited the Ennis Community Children’s School via the Catch & Give Foundation that Marth House set up this year. Thanks to all for helping the kids by catching.
-Dang

In the beginning of September Dan Greene and Jeremy scored some huge fish with their own tied Sculpin patterns. That was the beginning of our September fishing adventures.

We have seen a lot the first half of September, from gorgeous chamber of commerce days to a substantial snow storm, and great fishing … Lots of great fishing and some challenging fishing. It’s been a bonanza for fishermen of all ages and skill levels, from seasoned veterans to young daughters on first fishing trips with their father.

We enjoyed a number of friends who came by and chatted flies, shopped, and fished. It’s an awesome time of year to be on the river. Fishing has been mostly a meat and potatoes pattern for the fall, with most action coming on streamers, mostly sculpin patterns in black and olive trailed with small nymphs, including Lightning Bugs, Delektable Little Spankers, Prince Nymphs and a variety of Caddis and mayfly patterns, among others.

The weather has played a big part on the action. Streamers being best during overcast conditions. There also continues to be dry-fly action, with some fish being taken on Hopper patterns, but more consistently with Parachute Adams, Purple Haze/Craze, and Renegades in larger sizes. Fish in front of rocks, behind rocks, in the fast water, and in the slack water. Put movement on your streamers and sink them low. Make sure your dry flies float and you’ll do fine.

Twitching the dries can be good as the trout like to be teased. For the big fish hunters out there, big articulated streamers have been catching some nice fish. The Delektable crew have been tying some pretty dramatic articulated streamers. You should stop by and check some of the patterns out.

To be more specific about the past couple weeks, some days have been really good for some and challenging for others switching back and forth from day to day. There have been days when nothing has worked at all and you could get skunked, there have been days when nothing works all day and then you get one really nice one at the end that makes it all worth it, and then there are the days when you can’t keep fish off the end of your line. Isn’t that what fishing is all about?

But then again, that is usually the tempo during late August and early September. Here at Beartooth Flyfishing we have had boats going out almost every day with all of the above results. No matter how good you are on the stick, some days the Madison will put you on the short bus to school. We have had an epic dry fly stretch here the past few weeks with caddis, ants and hoppers.

The Purple Haze along with good ole Adams has been killer lately in sizes 10, 12, 16, and 18. Funny yes, for some the big sizes were better and for others the smaller ones were better. There have also been some big October caddis flying around down near town. So, if you are down that way you’ll want to throw some bigger caddis patterns underneath for sure but maybe on top also.

PMX’s with the Delektable Limejuice would be a great hopper-dropper combo with the nymph being the Caddis Nymph. The ant bite has been off and on as it usually is. Some really nice fish have been caught on the size 16 and 18 Delektable ant in red and black. The Chubby Chernobyl has been a very good attractor as well as a great fly for the fish to eat still too. The best color has been the royal, but the tan ones have been turning and pulling some nice ones too.

Try a few different small sizes of the chubby if you can. We have started tying some of our own with Mr. Delektable’s direction. Streamers have been working as usual here.

As we get into late September and October you will start to see those browns turning darker and pairing as they move a little to go up and spawn. Your basic colors are olive, black and white, but don’t be scared to throw some different than normal streamer colors at them. Of course the Delektable Double Screamer has been good in Black and Olive, a favorite for this time of year. Some of our crew personally like the olive/brown/yellow combo lately. The Sculpin streamer called Trevor has been a hot pattern these past couple weeks so far with a number of guides enabling the catch of the most and biggest fish. He comes in olive, black and natural here at the shop.

The Zonker in Copper with Natural has continued to be good insurance fished on a dead drift or with a bit of action but always with a nymph below it imitating either a Caddis Nymph or with a prince or a PT. Have fun fishing!

The Delektable Crew

 These past few weeks have been pretty good here on the river with the Fully Wild groups and the Girls Gone Wild groups. We have gone through a whole bunch of bugs since the last report.

The spruce moths and nocturnal stones were a minute ago but still get a fish to come up every now and then if ya twitch it and tease ‘em just so :). We now have hoppers and flying ants in the mix of caddis and various mayflies. Some of the patterns that are working for hoppers are the Brown and Tan and Brown and Yellow Fat Albert sizes 12 and 14. The flying ant is working in red and in black.

Our favorite patterns here of course are Dan’s Delektable Flying Ant in both of those colors. Purple Haze and Adams dries in sizes 16 and 18 have been good for the spinnerfall in the late afternoon and/or evening. Beetles and different terrestrial patterns have been working for others when nothing else seems to be working.

In the nymph world caddis case patterns seem to be ruling the ruling the roost. Green Delektable Spankers size 14 have been a real good one for some while just plain pheasant tail case patterns have been working others. The Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear nymph has just been HOT lately in sizes 14 and 16. Dan’s Delektable Little Spankers in almost all colors have been working well to in the 14, 16 and 18. Lighting Bugs are still getting people some nice fish as well as Shop Vac style flies such as the 3 Dollar Dip.

This past weekend on Saturday and Sunday the weather was really good if you love to fish streamers in the rain and nasty weather. Some nice fish were caught on some bigger articulated sculpin patterns by some people we know around here. Black, Olive and Yellow/Brown/Olive are some hot colors that got some beautiful fish very recently. It is thought by some or most that August is the slowest month for fishing around here, but I encourage everyone to think outside the fly bin and try something you haven’t ever tried/tied before and you might be surprised :).

Yellow jackets, mice, and yes, even frogs have been working in August to pull some beauts out of their comfort zone. Well, that’s it for now from the ol’ Tooth! Happy fishing!!!

DanG

This past month we had a fun little in-shop employee challenge to see who could catch the biggest fish during the course of the month. Check out our crew!!! What this did, most of all though, was get everyone out on the river a little more than they usually are. There were many fish caught and there are lots of great pictures to see from our crew. This July worked out perfect with ALL the bugs hatching during the stretch of the month, even the nocturnal stones started working at the end. It was an awesome July! The salmonfly hatch was really good and almost all the big fish that were caught were on the big dry. The bugs we got to see this month were as follows: Salmonflies, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Bomber Caddis, Caddis of all sizes and colors, PMDs, Callibeatis, Green Drakes, Hoppers, Ants, Crane Flies, Epeorous, Spinners, Flavolinias,  and Nocturnal Stones!!! And there are some I missed I’m sure, but the point is, there were lots and lots of bugs! The streamer in the middle of the salmon fly hatch was outstanding also. John Gardner came in on top with the biggest fish of the month measuring 22 inches brown and also a nice 20 inch brown, followed by Dan Greene with a 21.5 inch brown and two 21 inch browns. Not far behind were Daniel Johansen and Hannah Holst with some really nice 21 and 20 inch browns. The deal was you had to get a picture of it and measure it with another person or a picture of it against your rod if you were alone. We also let in a special guest, Jim Dawson, with the biggest fish of the month, a 24.5 inch brown and a 23.5 inch rainbow sweeping the scores!!! See you in again in September Jim! All in all, the month of July was just killer! We hope you had a great month also and we hope to see you all in the shop this month!!!

Happy fishing!!! Beartooth crew

The fishing remains good. The hatches continue to be Caddis of several sizes and varieties, Mayflies, PMD’s, Sally’s, and a few reports of Spruce Moths and Hoppers. The rusty PMD’s and Flavs are a regular thing.  The nymph action has become smaller in size lately. The fish are still eating the dries but seem to like the nymphs more regularly.

 

Mice are still not

 

working well on the  Madison, but world-record sized sculpin patterns have caught some big fish! (See Pictures for Confirmation) Small caddis and PMD nymphs have owned the game on the river for the most part, however. Pearl lightning bugs, flashback pheasant tails, shop-vacs, soft hackle hare’s ears in sizes #14-#18 have been working well. Of course, the fish change their food preferences from day to day and even hour to hour, so it’s helpful to stay on top of these changes.

 

 

If you were looking to fish larger dries during the day, the Fat Albert (Yellow/Red Thread) in #12 and #14 have risen lots of fish in the last week and caught several nice ones. Other dry options would be a parachute adams in gray, purple haze, and of course, the Delektable Halo Caddis!

 

 

Dry Fly action has been better in the evening as more and more bugs tend to come off in the afternoon. More importantly, it is high summer and absolutely beautiful in the Madison Valley.

 

 

The water is warm, wet-wading season is in full force, but make sure to wear your sunscreen and keep ice in your cooler! Nobody likes a warm beer…. Happy Fishing!

 John and Nancy

 

Salmon Flies and Goldenstones have left the building but the river is still on fire.

Caddis and PMD dry flies and nymphs have been dominating the bite this last week. The hatches are even in the shop and we can’t keep the cases clean from the hatch action. The afternoon PMD Rusty Spinners are out there. Sallys are out. You will also see some olive Flavs in the afternoon into the evening. A Purple Haze can work for that.

Many of the guide trips are starting early in the morning as it gets pretty hot mid afternoon. Small nymphs have been the choice of many guides, but the evening caddis and mayfly dry fly action has been outstanding.

Mice are working in Russia and Alaska right now, but not so much on the Madison. Larger Caddis and Mayfly patterns have been producing larger fish, but oh…don’t forget about the midges! Sizes 16 and 18 on Caddis Dries are a good start and 14-16 for mayflies.

Stories abound from what happened to Howard, guiding a group of women, and he leaped out of the boat and something happened where he is now showing a lot of leg. He returned to our shop to purchase new fishing pants. It was good for a laugh.

Okay, Elle’s Trout cookies were a hit this week and shown in addition to the nice trout catches.

Father and Son, Mike and Mike, had a great week learning the freestone techniques as compared to smaller streams in the east. It was fun.

Our dear friends and brothers, Steve and Jim Geil came to visit again this year with a friend, John. They had some really unforgettable fishing days with awesome catches and numerous fish that got away too. It was a really fun week and great to see our friends.

Bobby and Gail were back from Louisiana and had some fun on the Upper Madison.

The Fully Wild group and others did hit some late afternoon storm action. They still caught fish but we experienced a change in the action just after the storm.

There have been some reports of spruce moths up around the Pine Butte area and patterns imitating both Caddis and Spruce Moths have been producing lots of fish.

Kay, Liz, Martha and Cecily had a bunch of fun with Howard and Randy and the ladies really caught some nice fish.

July on the Madison is an awesome time! Come on out, have a few cold ones, and forget the waders in the car. It’s HOT! Happy fishing!

John and Nancy

Dry fly mania!!! Salmon flies, Golden stones, Caddis, PMD dry flies, and a few Sallies have ruled the day and night time fishing! And there were even reports of a few Spruce Moths above Lyons. It has been kind of insane with the big bugs here behind the shop up to Lyons and now at Three Dollar Bridge.

Kim with Joe caught a fat stuffed trout with a Sculpin still in its mouth and still eating the fly, reminding us how trout like to gorge themselves.

Gary rowed Martha into some really nice action with the Delektable Drowned Salmon Fly.

Jeff sent a photo from his adventures this week and a really nice catch.

We had some great family groups and buddies fishing together and our crew fished this week on numerous occasions. It has been a really fun buggy week. Yes, there were a bunch of people some of the days but that’s what happens when the big bug hatch is at the same time as a holiday week. There are definitely a group of big bug followers that chase the bugs from river to river.

This 4th of July there were many happy campers on vacation here with the big Salmon fly hatch and you will find no one complaining still. Yes, there was a people hatch too but if you strategized, you could beat it and find the fish. Flies that rocked were as follows:

Dan’s Secret Salmon and Secret Golden, the Drowned Salmon and Golden, the Delektable Twisted Sister orange/brown (size 6 and 8), Chubbies in gold, brown, purple, and peach (size 8, 10, and 12).

Caddis flies were Delektable Halo’s in royal, tan and peacock (size 14 and 16), the Delektable CDC elk hair caddis in olive, tan, purple and cinnamon (size 14 and 16), the Delektable Twisted X in red, tan/brown, purple and olive/gold (size 14 and 16).

Mayfly patterns were Delektable Teasers in royal, purple and PMD (size 14 and 16), Split Wing Adams and Purple Haze (size. 14 and 16), Purple Craze and Adams Parachute (size. 14 and 16) PMD Butt Head Sparkle Dun (size. 16)

And in the nymph world, PMDS, Sallies and Caddis are hatching daily so of course bead head nymphs in sizes 14, 16 and 18 are rockin’ the boat too baby!!! This includes: Lemon Drops, Delektable Lil’ Spankers in Gold and Silver, Shop Vacs, Pyscho Princes in Yellow and/or Green, Delektable Sure Strikes in Peacock, Yellow/Peacock, Yellow Sally, and Purple. And the various Princes continue to work well. Pat’s Rubberlegs are still in the game but some have said the trout are figuring out they are not real.

Enjoy the fishing!

Dan D and Nancy

 

 

Dave Gazzara and I took a nice float down the Madison this past Saturday. We did a Lyons to McAtee from 6:30 in the morning till 9:30. I would love to elaborate on how all the different flies were working and how they ate everything, however it was not like that. The fish ate the single salmon fly ALL DAY long, period.

Dan G

This was quite a week with all varieties of weather, bugs, and people. We had some really big storms come through. We had some big lightning strike highway 287 where you see a cone on the road. We had salmon flies near Ennis which stayed stalled for about a week due to the weather. Then the salmon flies started to move a bit and the people started to follow.

 

 

 

 

The people came to chase the big bug and the river became busiest this week from Varney to Ennis. The big bugs were there and the fish were eating them. Our guys would grab a handful of mud under rocks in the river and would come up with a bunch of Salmon and Golden Stone wet flies.

 

 

Early in the week Jim and Lee had great results fishing with big dark stonefly nymphs and smaller nymphs such as the Delektable CDC Prince, the fly formerly known as Prince, and a variety of caddis emergers, Delektable Mega Princes, and Pat’s Rubberlegs in most of the dark colors in bigger sizes. They also had some results with Salmon and Golden Fly Dries and nymph trailers.

 

 

Our Dan Greene and his buddy John worked the streamer action all week and caught some really nice trout on streamers. They would experiment every day tying different variations and would test it the next day. Various colors worked including Olive, White, Tan, Black, and Chartreuse. They were trying to imitate the sculpin and other fish in the river and did a good job of getting the bite on their creations. At the end of the week, they changed to dries and got some good results early in the mornings with big caddis and with Salmon Flies.

 

 

 

A great group of guys we shall call “Friends of Hienie” who is are neighbor, were fishing with us all week. They had all the varieties of conditions including big “W” factor and they all caught some really nice fish. They were using some of the big dries and were also trailing with nymphs. Fish were caught on both. As the week went on, the hatch started to move and by the week’s end, the big bugs were around McAtee.

 

 

Mid week the Fully Wild Group experienced a pretty wet storm on their float. The fish were eating the nymphs pretty well during the rain and when the rain shut off, the bite was less. It wasn’t easy for some of the beginners but they still managed to catch some nice fish. The dry fly folks had less action in the storm.

 

 

Nancy and Jeanne from Rainbow Valley Lodge had their historic day off float with Gunnar. Jeanne was slaying them on the nymphs. She caught more fish that day than any other day she fished the Madison. Nancy tried a variety of bugs starting with dry/dropper, shifting to streamer/trailer/emerger, then back to dry dropper, than dry/dry. Nancy was catching some fish but not the magnitude that Jeanne had on the nymph action.

 

Later in the float Nancy started catching more with the Secret Salmon Fly and A special Royal Chubby. The dry action really changed and picked up closer to McAtee where the big bugs were. It was a really great day off and both girls screamed all the way down the river. 🙂

 

 

So…..the week was productive with lots of fish caught. Towards the end of the week, the Caddis hatches on the upper river really started popping.

 

 

We also started to see PMD’s, and some Yellow Sallies. The Golden Stones and Salmon Flies traveled a short distance during the week. The fish were eating big bomber style caddis pretty well and really started to eat the big bugs towards the end of the week.

Dan and Marty floated from Lyons and had some great action on Caddis on the upper river and again on the nymphs too.

 

The people part of the hatch really arrived over the weekend and as it warmed up, the Salmon Fly hatch started to move again. Most every day, we have had good fishing reports and fun on the river.

 

 

Go Fishing! Nancy