Category: Upper Madison River

DAY OUT FOR THE SHOP

Earlier this week, I had the follow-up visit with the surgeon who removed my gall bladder, and I got the thumbs-up to return to normal activity. Dan decided it was cause for celebration, so the next day, we went fishing! One of our new shop employees, Craig, came along to make it a threesome. It was a basic decision; he can row, so he can go.

We started mid-morning on an absolutely gorgeous day. Bright sunshine and warming temperatures greeted us at the launch. We would have liked a little less wind, but we’ve seen a lot worse, it was a day off, and we were going fishing, so who cares about the wind! Oh, and the Mother’s Day Caddis were out … Life is good.

We started with stonefly nypmhs trailed by caddis emergers, and it didn’t take long to realize we had the right combo. A few fish were taken fairly quickly from the boat, but once we stopped and wade-fished favorite holes, the action really picked up. With slightly fast water flows, the fish were stacked up in the holes and the slack water. And with a very slight tint to the water, some of our favorite conditions, we were able to wade with stealth, adding to our success. The pattern continued all morning, afternoon and into the early evening; catch a few from the boat, catch more, and bigger fish, when we waded. And the stonefly/caddis emerger pattern also held throughout the trip.

Dan did try throwing dry-fly caddis during the warmest part of the day, in some very tasty looking holes, but the fish weren’t rising. Everything was taken on the nymphs and emergers. Lucky for us, we really like fishing that way.

The stonefly nypmhs that worked the best were Delektable Olive Hurless Flashback, Delektable Gray Hurless Flashback and Delektable Olive Mega Prince Flashback, all in size 6 and 8. Our Caddis emergers were the Shop Vac and One Man Party, both in size 14 and 16. I also caught a couple on a size 6 Brown/Black Pat’s Rubberlegs, but the Hurless and Mega Prince were more productive.

After two weeks of R&R following my surgery, it was an incredible way to spend my first day back in "the real world." Hope to see y’all out there, so get out and fish!

Marty

We had another great Spring day of fishing on the Upper Madison floating from Storey to Varney. Dan and Nancy getting out is special anytime and we had some of Dan’s new creations to add to the fun. Bern Sundell joined us and had fun catching too. He did lose his hat in the wind and we could not recover it so you can see him hatless. Dan added enhancements to the Delektable™ Hurless in Gray and Olive with a new colored flashback. They rocked! The trout loved them. We were fishing a two nymph rig in the same technique that Craig described on April 3rd.

I can’t share the words used when the big one got away. I switched to 3X from 4X after that and still got some nice trout and landed them. It was a fun day.

Nancy

Our first fishing report on the Upper Madison is from Dan and Craig. The bite is on and the river is on fire. Craig adds…

Here is a report from the friend of the guide reporting as a guest in the boat. Rumor had it that the weather was supposed to cooperate and be pleasant on the Upper Madison in early April. I guess that’s all relative to what you are used to. A gentle breeze (20+) out of the south thankfully blowing down river to help the rower but not necessarily the fisherman! You can’t learn so much about your casting on a calm day either. We started at McAtee and pulled out at Varney Bridge with numerous stops in between. "You can’t be afraid to jump out of the boat and fish the spots" Dan explained but suggested you only do it with experience to be safe. "You’re moving by so quick in the boat that you’ve only got one shot. If you’re off just a little bit you’re not going to catch that fish." And he was right and proved it. On numerous occasions we would stop near good water and make multiple drifts with our double nymph rig before finally locating a fish. Or we would make multiple drifts with no results, add some more shot and them BAM! "fish on" and repeat successive casts.

Previous guide advice was to use a leader roughly 1.5 to 2 times the depth therefor I was using

7 1/2 ft. leader. Dan recommended starting at 9′ and go up to 12′ especially when nymphing in order to get the fly down to the bottom. Also, throw away the bobber and try using one or a pair of teardrop shaped indicators. 3 – If you’re not catching fish in a good spot then you should add weight especially this time of year when fish aren’t going to move far. 4 – Don’t strike with an upward hook set; swipe the rod perpendicular to the flow and drift of the line. 5 – Abandon the line mend and adopt the ‘fold and follow’; less strain on the joints and you don’t pull the fly off the bottom since you’ve got more control. 6 – When fishing two flies, go eye to eye, rather than attaching the tippet to the hook bend; doesn’t effect drift of the fly in the water and enables a more free drift of the top fly. Only use the bend when fishing crayfish and streamers. 7 – Don’t be afraid to jump out of the boat in mid-stream and fish good buckets or pocket water! Remember to use caution. (All I need to do is be able to identify those places). 8 – Keep my thumb on the top of the rod grip when casting into a ‘beat your ass’ wind! 9 – Pass the tippet through the eye of the hook twice when tying it on. 10 – Don’t set the hook when there isn’t a fish on; In other words don’t assume there is a fish on just because the indicator is towing under. 11 – Although good for business, when you get hung up while drifting it takes less time to go to shore and retrieve the fly than it does re tying a whole new rig! 12 – Get those oar rights that automatically put the blade at the right angle. 13 – Don’t walk away from he boat and assume the anchor will hold. 14 – Make sure you pack a fork when you pack a salad! 15 – Fish "Fly first"! That’s just a few things off the top of my head from my day of learning, fishing, and–of course-catching.

Water flow rates were good and still very clear. We fished the whole day with Delektable Hurless™ in gray and olive and Delektable™ Mega Prince Nymphs as the Skwalla stones become active and had constant action (when presented right!) with rainbows to 19" and a few browns including some gaudy ones and nice sized whitefish to boot. The water is still cold and the fish aren’t moving far out of their feeding lanes for a passing nymph. The abundance of small fish in the 12" to 13" size range are good signs for some fun fishing throughout the 2012 fishing season here on the Upper River and I can’t wait to get back out!

Dan adds that it was great getting out fishing with Craig; springtime in the Rockies is my favorite. Game on, get out there and have some fun.

Craig and Dan

The Beartooth Work Crew were treated to a day on the Madison. It was a sunny, warm day, which lends itself to tougher fishing but nice weather for being outside on a break from work.

What a beautiful day on the Madison it was! The Whitefish King, “Grandpa” and I teamed up with Marty as our guide from Lyons Bridge to Palisades for a morning to mid-afternoon float. I fished all dries and Grandpa fished all wet flies. The day was an overall slow day as far as the numbers and size goes but, I enjoyed every second of it whether I was catching fish or just practicing my casting, and enjoying the beauty of the day. We put on a number of different flies that worked for very brief periods, then nothing and time to switch out again. The same seemed true for Grandpa with the wet flies. The great part of all this was, there was plenty of time to simply enjoy myself and take in nature, which was a great thing for me since I don’t often get to do this (this was my first time on the Madison this year). Some of the flies that worked were the Yeager’s 409, PMD’s, and the Delektable Cinnamon Ant. The same fly rarely caught a fish twice before we wound need to switch out again. We had several big fish rising to a <huge> Fat Albert, but none would go ahead and eat it.

Grandpa caught several large whitefish, giving him the biggest fish of the day, but I caught the most fish including some smaller six to eight inch trout. I did however catch one rainbow that was roughly fourteen inches long. Marty worked very hard for both of us. He really is a great guide and definitely deserves credit for the immense effort he put into the trip. I know I wouldn’t have caught even half the fish I did without him. I also want to thank Dan and Nancy for letting me go out and goof off all day, it was greatly appreciated. My busy schedule has made it hard for me to take a day off, with full time work in the fly shop and my taxidermy business after regular work hours and weekends. Even if the fishing is slow I always like to say: “The worst day fishing is better than the best day working!” Not to say this was the worst day as I have had way worse.

Jenn

The afternoon portion of the float included Kevin and Marcus guided by Marty. The weather was in the upper 80’s with the wind changing from north to south throughout the afternoon. We fished dries for most of the day. We got the occasional rise from a decent fish on the hoppers but they were few and far between. We tried several different patterns in the afternoon from hoppers, to caddis, and PMD Rusty Spinners. Keven even tried a massive streamer and got one fish that was about 10 inches in length. Overall, the fishing was slow and only smaller fish were rising. Still it was an awesome and gorgeous day to go fishing with Marty.

Marcus

We continue to be busy at Beartooth Flyfishing. Folks are spreading out across different rivers as all the rivers are fishing well now. The Upper Madison is shifting into some fun dry fly action including Ants, Hoppers, Spruce Moths, PMD’s, Caddis, and Yellow Sallies. The dry fly bite has been picking up and folks are having fun. During the overcast days which have been few, folks have done well with a stone fly nymph or streamer with a small dropper nymph. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks to show the results. Enjoy!

Nancy

I’ve been way too busy guiding in July to post fishing reports. Before the season got underway I predicted the best dry or die season since 1997. After fishing Salmon Fly and Goldenstone Dries for over 3 weeks; it has been an incredible run of the dry fly bite for me. Now we are into August and still have Caddis, PMD’s, Yellow Sallies, Ants, Cicadas, Spruce Moths, and Hoppers; so Hang ON!!!! With the Yellowstone and other rivers starting to fish, the pressure should be dissipating. Our flows are holding above normal and night time temps are cool; perfect conditions for hatches; the bite and the hope of a big time hopper hatch. We have also enjoyed visiting with so many friends who are back for their summer adventures. Thank you to all for the fun experiences and the support of our museum/adventure store. We bought tons of new bugs and are fully stocked for the hatches. Enjoy the photos of our friends we fished with these past few weeks.

Dan

It’s Salmonfly and Golden Stone Time!

The fishing with big dries has been epic this last week.  Everything came together after weeks of waiting: the flows dropped, the water cleared, the salmonflies moved up the river, and the fish started looking up.  The fish are also eating golden stone patterns and caddis are happening as well.

The salmonflies are all the way from McAtee to Lyons in the float section and well up into the wade section.  Lots of different patterns are working.  If you can find them, grab some Morrish’s Fluttering Stone–Salmon Fly or Dornan Water Walker Salmon Fly #6.  We’ve also been having good results on the Delektable Twisted Sister Orange/Brown #4. Again, several varieties are working: half drown Salmon Flies; floating one; and sinking ones. For the golden stones, try a Half Down Golden Stone.  The Delektable Halo Tan #16 has been good for caddis and caddis emergers. Nymphing has also been successful with Goldenstones, Stones, Caddis Nymphs, Caddis Emergers, and Yellow Sallies. We added tons of new patterns to the shop this year so stop by and explore the fly cases for all the goodies.

Caution!! The flows remain high– 2,840 at Varney Bridge.  These high flows have been getting folks into trouble. The Salmon fly hatch has caused more boat traffic and the traffic at bridges can be a challenge. >This week two boats swamped at Wolf Creek bridge within just three days.  Fortunately, everyone who was in the boats is OK.  If you are not an excellent oarsman and familiar with the currents at the Wolf Creek Bridge at these high flows, walk your boat under the bridge on the left bank. Look ahead and plan before approaching all bridges.

Also, remember that these crowds can make shuttles unavailable relatively early in the day.  It is best to arrange your shuttle the day before or early in the morning if you can. 

Looking ahead, we should be have an amazing season.  The water will be more than adequate.  The small dries will intensify as the weather warms.  Terrestrial Time should be great.  There is a tremendous amount of grass in the Valley and there are a lot of little hoppers around.  The season may have started late, but it should be a great one.  If you haven’t already done it, make your plans.

Brad and Nancy

Salmonfly Dries Now Working Above McAtee

The water has cleared enough now that the the fish can see through a good distance of water, they are looking up, and are hitting salmonfly dries.  There were a lot of salmonflies in the air today between Ruby Creek and Storey Ditch.  This nice brown was caught on a dry just downstream from the Beartooth Fly Shop, above McAtee Bridge. 

Big, dark nymphs, as noted in Dan’s report below, were also working.  As the river continues to clear and the salmonflies move upstream, things should continue to get better, even maybe get really good.

Brad

Week including July 10, 2011

The river is decidedly more dirty towards Ennis and shows better clarity as you go up towards Quake Lake. This week more folks explored up and down the river and found fish. The flows are down some and the clarity is improving daily. There is still faster than usual flows and debris coming down with it. Please use caution wading and getting under the bridges on the upper river. The majority of the activity continues to be on wet bugs even though the Salmon Flies are in the neighborhood. The hot flies lately have been #4 and #6 Delektable Stoners, Pat’s Rubberleg Brown, and Golden Stones as the top bug with a variety of Caddis nymphs, and Yellow Sally nymphs as the trailer. The big bugs are in our back yard and as the water gets more clear, you will see more activity on the dries but it is not happening just yet. We are days away from the dry or die action. Nice fish have been caught but all of them from wet flies so far. The pictures show it all.

Dan

Hi! Folks, I am one of the new guys in the Beartooth shop. Here’s my report.

The Madison River has been flowing pretty fast this week, which makes for some difficult wading. A couple days ago I checked the gauge at West Fork and it was still around 3200 CFS. The good thing is the high CFS pushed the fish right up to the banks in some of the more mellow water. I have been wading in about thigh deep water with fish rising not even 4ft from me, which makes me feel as if the fish are teasing me but it makes for some pretty comical times. Dan Morrill was with clients this week and they caught some nice trout.

>

As far as bugs, worms seemed to be the ticket with the high flow water. I have been leading the worms with some Delektable Mega Princes and Golden Stones. I fished around Windy Point and Lyons Bridge and caught some nice rainbows. I also fished up at Three Dollar Bridge and had some luck but it also seems to be the most popular. Every time I have gone up there in the evening I am one of eight or nine cars.

Last night, I fished above West Fork and it was tough going. The bugs were definitely out and I couldn’t’t seem to put the right bug on my line. At around 7:30 pm the caddis were coming out and I decided to throw a dry fly just to see if the fish would take it in the dirty water. I fished with the dry fly for an hour or so with no success. I think this next week I might go up to the lakes as I have heard some people getting good results.

Hi! Folks, I am another one of the news guys at Beartooth Flyfishing and here’s my add to the report. Alright Guys and Girls here is the skinny. Water Flow around 3000 CFS at Kirby, Water Clarity a foot and a half. I Know what you are thinking a foot and half of water clarity on the Madison River this time of year, you must be pulling my leg. As we are all aware we are experiencing an exceptional amount of runoff this year, creating marginal fishing conditions throughout the region. Most would want you to believe that the visibility range is more like 0 to 3 inches, which is certainly not without merit. However I would say some investigation and some traveling will prove otherwise. Recently I took a path a little less traveled and found some great water that proved itself worth the effort. I had some time off and traveled to the upper stretch of the Madison River just above the outflow of Cabin Creek below, Hebgen Dam area. This area as well as one or two other area afforded me the best  chances for great visibility, hatches that could not go unnoticed by the resident Trout population.

I spent most of my day fishing underneath with normal subsurface table fare. That is until I recognized that these fish are fast becoming the only game in town, by the looks of local traffic that was surrounding me. I then changed my customary patterns for some more scaled down nymph patterns in hopes to allict some more action. Patterns consisted of Delektable CDC Baby, Tungsten Sallies, Rainbow Czech Nymph, Bar Emerger, lightning bugs, most anything tied with tungsten. The fish responded positively, and the bite was on.

As a note: Tungsten bead heads work for me because I like to get away from split shot in heavy turbulent water. Split shot adds to fouling snags and hangs ups very easily. Of which I would rather not have the head ache when the bite is on. As for the tungsten when I need more weight I move to a larger fly instead of moving to shot or increasing the amount of shot. In the end the tactics paid off and several nice Bows were brought to hand. Rainbows that I would not have had the pleasure to catch had I not done some research and traveling.

Dan mentioned that he had an opportunity to fish with friends and Fished the Delektable Hurless, Stoner, and Mega Princes in size # 6 As a top fly and #8 Bottom bug. They hooked around 15 fish before heading off to Lyons Bridge Area, where Marcus took 6 nice fish. If you are looking for some fun this week but  you think the water I to off color or is to high, better think again. Think small and High stick em! 

Marcus and Vince