Category: Upper Madison River

Okay…It was one of those very memorable days as the other trout Jeremy and I caught were really nice.

Of particular note is one of the Brown Trout  Jeremy caught (see photo) was the same fish, really, the same fish Daniel caught last year. We matched up by comparing the photographs, the spots, the jaw, and all the details and they were indeed the same fish. It lived to see another year. Awesome! 🙂

Dang and Jeremy

After many, many hours of tying streamers and many, many days of hours fishing them this spring and early summer, I finally locked into a piggy pig pig. This hen was taken on an articulated streamer I tied the night before. Olive/brown and yellow was the color combo it took. Not a monster streamer, about 5 inches in length. She took it on a medium-slow strip from directly upstream against the bank. That’s it for the nitty gritty details. It measured 26 inches and I estimate about 8 or 9 pounds. Being REAL sneaky was probably the most important factor in catching this fish. I was fishing with my buddy Jeremy, and we knew there was a great chance of a nice fish in this area because we have pulled a few from the same area already this year. After hooking it, I knew it was big, but didn’t know how big until it was at my feet, then it got hairy. It saw me and went for the undercut bank it came out of and proceeded to hang me up on a root about 3 feet back. I was snagged. No more pulling on the line, no more fish…so I thought. My heart sank, hahaha. So, I had Jeremy stick his hand under the bank to assess the situation. The bank went back pretty far and he couldn’t even get to the fly. He was able to feel where the line was wrapped up and along with me moving upstream and giving it a little slack, (with extreme caution, cause I thought there might still be a chance) the fish erupted back out in to the main water where I was and the fight continued!!! The fish was especially not happy to see me again and put up a ferocious fight for another few minutes. After Jeremy missed it once with the net, it tried to go around the back of him and almost got into the desired tangled up mess it might have been hoping for. It was a persistent fish, but Jeremy super scooped it like a boss and it was over!!! Thanks to Jeremy we landed her in about 5 minutes time. It was pretty cool to see a fish like this again! (it’s been a minute) There are fish in the Madison that are just huge and it takes being in the right place at the right time with the right fly…and landing it. 🙂 

 Happy fishing!!! -Dang

There’s nothing like a day on the river, and it’s even better when surrounded by a bunch of friends, new and old.

 
The “Friends of Doug” hit the river earlier this week on a day that just kept changing. The weather was dark, cold and windy when the float started, turned to sunny and warm for a couple hours in the afternoon, then ended back at dark, cold and windy, and threatening rain.

But the fish didn’t care about the weather. The bite was on.

Fish, and lots of them, produced boatloads of smiles. The fish were hitting the variety of offerings that have been working recently.
They took streamers, different sculpin patterns in olive and tan. Nymphs that worked were the Delektable Mega Prince, Pat’s Rubber Legs in a variety of sizes, in darker colors, but mostly the larger ones.

One of the guides turned over a rock which showed multitudes of Stone Fly Nymphs which the flies were imitating.

The river is in the right condition for action. The big bugs are not here yet but expected soon. They are still under the surface like the nymphs you see from under the rocks.

Lately some folks have tried the Chubby as a dry fly/indicator and trailed it with a stone fly nymph like the Delektable Mega Prince or a Pat’s Rubberlegs and scored well with that combo. The trout do seem to like the big nymphs, it is like a steak dinner.

It’s time to go fishing!

Nancy and Marty

The forecast was not entirely accurate about this day. The “W” factor wasn’t supposed to be so gusty and it was. There was a bit of weather but not bad. The good news is the fish were biting and it was fun for the reunion of the “Friends of Tom” group. It was so nice to see good friends getting together and enjoying each other and a nice fishing adventure.

Joe and Jim took care of the guys and they helped them find the fish.

The bug choices were pretty similar to the previous week with dark stone fly patterns and streamers.

Part of the day some smaller nymphs started to work for trailers but most of the day the bigger wet bugs worked best.

Enjoy the photos and share in their fun!

Nancy

Conditions were pretty ideal for this group, we shall call “Friends of Matt”. What a great group, many learning fly fishing for the first time. The best part was everyone caught and landed trout and had great scenery and wildlife viewing. The morning started off cool with threats of thunder storms which did not happen but the overcast morning helped the bite for sure and then the afternoon warmed up for a pleasant day.

Joe, Gunnar, Dave, and Brandon did a terrific job teaching these guys and getting them into fish.

The river was steadily dropping in flows this week and the color had just become green with good visibility by Friday. The fish were hungry. The boys went from Lyons Bridge to Ruby Creek as the river turned that perfect green color we all love to fish. The dirt has surely subsided and as of this writing, the upper river is on fire, fishing well and perfectly clear.

The bite was primarily on Stone Flies including the Delektable Mega Prince and Pat’s Rubberleg in Black in sizes ranging from #4 to #8’s. There was also action on streamers including the Delektable Screamer in Black and Olive and Sculpzilla in Black. A variety of other bugs were also working such as caddis nymphs and caddis emergers.

As of this posting, June 11, the bite is still very good and the flows are becoming steady at Kirby at around 1,350 cfs following the past few days of more reduction in flows.

Many of the same flies are working now including the Delektable Hurless in Gray Flashback #6 & #8, Delektable Mega Prince Flashback or Flashback Olive in #6 or #8, Delektable Black Stoner #8 or the Delektable Black/Orange Stoner #8, Delektable Bug Halloween #8, The Delektable Sure Strike Yellow Peacock and Peacock #14, Pat’s Rubberlegs in dark colors or the mix with orange, Delektable Screamers Jointed and Single, Bunny Style Streamers. Basic Prince patterns are also working as trailers. Big Dries, Chubbies in purple,pink and brown size#10-12 with Delektable Hurless and Mega-Prince and Stoner droppers in sizes#6-8.

TOO MUCH FUN!

There are plenty of choices when the fish are eating. We recommend you go fish!

Nancy and Dan

Ross and Emmett did well between the lakes.  There were four other boats there though!   So someone else figured it out. Emmett caught his rainbows on a red copper john that he tied and on a rod that he made!

Thank Dan for the good recommendation!

Ross and Emmett

Beartooth Flyfishing enjoyed hosting guests as part of the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Organization.

There were six service connected disabled vets, a number with purple hearts, and some with more than one purple heart, staying at our lodge and fishing with guides including Dan, Ross, Gunnar, Brandon, and Bob Frey, a friend who is very active with Project Healing Waters.

Special thanks to Bill Kelman who was the group leader and trip coordinator who really made this happen. Thank you to the guides for volunteering their time. Thanks to Bob Frey for coordinating some of the details for the group. And Thanks to our friends who provided donations to help support this trip.

In the group were three Bills, Bob, Jim, also known as Grampoo, and Jose. What a great group of guys who became part of the Beartooth extended family. It was tough saying good bye.

We really enjoyed their company and hope to be able to provide a trip like this every year.

Day one they experienced float fishing for the first time and enjoyed the scenery, wildlife, camaraderie, and the fishing.

The river flows started to come up that day and Dan and Gunnar needed to be very cautious getting under the bridges in the upper stretch. As of May 24th, we suggest you walk the boat under the left or west side to be safe. Call the shop (406-682-7525) for current conditions as the flows are now high and fast and the river is now in true run off condition. Reports of fishing are still good with specific techniques for these conditions.

They were catching trout on Delektable Mega Princes in Olive Flashback and Delektable Hurless Stones, Delektable Red and Pink Worms, Dark Stone Flies with Flashy trailers, and Delektable Black and Olive Screamers.

Day two the group fished the wade section on the upper river.

Most of the same bugs were used and BWO Emergers, Beadhead Zebra Midges, Delektable Tungsten Surestrikes in Peacock, and Delektable Tungsten Big Spankers in Light Olive and Read Headed.

They did well wading the buckets as the river came up quite a bit again and the clarity was better in the upper section compared to below the West Fork which became pretty dirty. As of this writing below the West Fork is very high and dirty.

Everyone caught fish, working the buckets. Thanks for a great time and great company!

Dan and Nancy

Dan and Daniel had some nice evening action with streamers and great views.

Mark and Kim enjoyed a nice opening day with more regular action. The river flows were steady for a couple days, the clarity was good. The catch was on streamers and stone flies.

The river flows came up these two weeks. The water visibility was still clear. The fishing was still good but not the regular steady bite like the week before.

Jim caught some nice trout on Stone Fly Nymphs while enjoying his cigar and relaxing.

Scott was fishing strictly streamers with a sinking line. He caught some nice sized fish and again the bite was not as steady.

Hienie had a similar day as Jim on stone fly nymphs. He experienced more weather conditions including snow. It got a bit chilly.