Category: General

May 4th – 10th | Madison River Fishing Report

We have had a number of boats out on the Madison over the last week. Fishing overall has been solid. Some days have been tougher than others. But overall it’s been good to great for most of our outings. Nymphing remains the best strategy for getting into the most consistent fishing. Delektable Mega Princes, Delektable Hurless Stones, and Delektable Balanced Stones in sizes #8-#10 are a great choice for your lead fly. Delektable Lil’ Spankers in Silver, Red, Blue, and Pheasant Tail. Shop Vacs, Psycho Princes, Serendipities, Egg Patterns, and Worms have also been strong choices for trailer patterns which will produce.

The Mother’s Day Caddis hatch had been strong on the Lower Madison as well as the lower stretches of the Upper River from Varney downstream to Valley Garden and the lake channels. The cool batch of weather that rolled in last weekend put this hatch on hold for a couple of days. We should see this hatch back in action as the weather warms mid week. Dan was able to get out and fish this hatch on Friday the 7th and had excellent success. Delektable CDC Holographic Elk Hair Caddis, Delektable Little Chubbies, and Delektable Sparkle Bugs, in Olive in sizes #14 and #16 have fished well during this hatch. The Upper Wade Section as always is providing action on top with Blue Winged Olives in sizes #18 –  #22. And Midge Adults and Clusters in sizes #18 – #22. If you catch the right day with some cloud cover, calm winds, the fishing can as always be outstanding.

     

 

 

 

 

The streamer action is still heating up. And will do so as spring flows continue to increase. Tactics have varied daily. Fast Retrieves, Slow Retrieves, and Dead Drifting are all possibilities. Black, Olive, White, and Natural colored patterns seem to be the hot colors right now. It just takes some time and patience to figure out how they want them presented each day. Streamer bite has definitely been more active on overcast days without the bright sunlight.

The season is coming on quickly with the last of our closed waters such as the Upper Beaverhead opening this coming Saturday the 15th of May. As always please stop by and pick up some Bugs, Leaders, Suncscreen, and any other tying materials you may need on your way to the River. Be safe out there and remember it’s all about fun out there.

March 29th – April 4th | Madison River Fishing Report

We at Beartooth Flyfishing hope everyone had a happy and safe Easter weekend. We have had a few boats out over the last few days. The Madison trout are happy and hungry and looking forward to some warmer weather in the short future as much as we are. The river is fishing as well as can be expected with the water temperatures still cold.

Nymphing is the most consistent method for a solid day of fishing throughout most of the river. Good success has been had with Delektable Mega Princes, Hurless Stones, and our new Delektable Balanced Stones, in sizes #8 – #10. Lil’ Spankers in Pheasant Tail, Silver, Blue, and Red have also been fishing well. Smaller Shop Vac’s in brown or olive #16 – #18. Baetis nymphs in #18 – #20 will also be effective.

Most of the surface activity will be best on the upper reaches of the river. With calmer wind look for risers to be sipping midges and blue winged olives in the slicks behind rocks and riffles throughout the wade section. There are still solid amounts of snow between the lakes and around Raynold’s and 3$. Some cardio post holing will be involved if you don’t have x country skis or snowshoes.

Streamers are fishing well once you’re able to crack the code and find how they want it presented. Again with the water temps on the chilly side, you’ll want to vary your strategies. Dead Drifting, or  slower strips seem to be the most consistent right now. As weather and water warms over the next few weeks they should begin to chase better. Olive, Black, and Brown/Yellow combinations have been the most reliable colors. With White and Natural combos coming into play on the brighter days.

No need to get out super early or stay super late just yet, as the fish are most active between about 10am and 5pm. Unless of course you’re looking for that 24” + toad lurking in the early morning or late evening light.

As always please call us here at Beartooth Flyfishing with any questions, or better yet stop in for some coffee and let us get you hooked up with all the flies and supplies you will need for your next day on the water.

Thursday March 5, 2021 | Madison River Fishing Report

The weather finally co-operated with warm temperatures and no wind. I stopped to wade 3 different sections of the upper Madison. First was McAtee bridge, then Ruby Creek and lastly the picnic area at Palisades. Hooked and landed browns and rainbows on one of my new stonefly nymphs at all 3 fishing spots. I drove all the way up to Hebgen dam to check out all the fly fishers.

They were enjoying the day like I was. All the sites and access points had anglers. As far as boat launches that were being used: Lyons you had to slide your boat or raft down slope from the road or drag it a ways from the parking lot to the river; Windy Point needed a few more days to melt and open up; Palisades was open as was Ruby Creek and McAtee. There were a handful of boats and rafts from Lyons to McAtee.      

It was so good to get out and exercise and to see so many out there enjoying a break in the weather. The bonus of this time of the year is the thousands of elk that can be photographed just by driving up the highway along with the deer, antelope, and other wildlife.

Enjoy Fishing! Dan Delekta

September 23rd-29th | Madison River Fishing Report

 

To be clear… this year has been nuts!! In a great way, its been the craziest season we’ve seen in a while! The dry fly bite has been out of this world, the big bugs bites were on another level of eats this year. The stoneflies are huge and healthy in this river, and that makes for great sport with the trout. It always fun to see the big dry eat on the big bug.

The hopper season has been spectacular! This was the best hopper season any of us have ever seen. They were just everywhere. There was a mind bending hopper presence here in the valley. If you didn’t get in on all the hopper action, then you still may have a chance. They are still out there trying to hang on. Legend has it, they will be here until the second hard freeze. If you throw it, they will still hit it here and there and you might even be able to tease a piggie up to the top yet.

The snow has been falling in the mountains here in the Madison Valley area. It is archery season here and there are arrows flying, so be careful as you are wading around in the woodsier parts that you are aware that hunters may be present around you (it has happened to me already). Share the outdoors. The leaves will be turning bright yellow and orange soon and the colors on the trout will be changing with the season. In just a minute or two glorious colors will be seen. We have the privilege of living in one of the most beautiful places on earth and there are trout here. The fact that trout don’t really live in ugly places helps too.

The snow falling would indicate that fall is here, but we may have more good weather for us in store in the next few weeks, so hang on! The immediate weather report looks a little dreary, but that could also mean a good bite, so hang on! The bite has been a tiny bit squirrely, so like I said earlier last week, you have to have the bad days to balance out the other days or else would the good days really be THAT good? There were some days this week that were terrific on Hoppers, October Caddis, and Yes, Ants in the Purple variety. And then the other days were an interesting mix/experiment in what the bite would be.

 

          

As far as the bug report goes, Here’s a little list of the bugs we are using:

Dries:

                Hoppers No. 10-12 in the colors Peach , Tan and Pink

                PMX Orange No. 14

                Bloom’s Stealth Ant Purple No. 16

                Delektable Chubbiness Olive/Brown No. 14

                Half Down No. 14

                Purple Haze No. 16 and 18

                Carlson’s Purple Haze No. 10

                Royal Cripple No. 16

                Delektable Twisted Sister Purple No. 14

Nymphs:

                Delektable Prince Brandon No. 14-18

                Batman No. 16

                Delektable Sure Strike Purple No. 16 and 18

                Psycho Prince Purple No. 16 and 18

                Delektable Mega Prince No. 6-8

                Delektable Lil’ Spankers (Purple, PT and Silver) No. 16

                Nymphicator No. 16 and 18

Streamers: 

                Sculpzilla Olive/Tan No. 8

                Trevor Olive No. 6

                Copper and Pearl Zonkers No. 6

                Bow River Bugger No. 6

                Delektable Double Screamer Olive/Black/Silver

                “              “              “                    White

                “              “              “                    Olive/Black/Gold

 

 

               

July 27th and 28th | Montana Hope Project Great Success!

What a fun weekend! We greatly appreciate all of you who came to support the Montana Hope Project. It is always our favorite weekend of the year and this year certainly didn’t disappoint. Friends from all over the state and country came to participate and help the children of Montana that have critical illnesses. Some tears were shed when we found out that we were able to achieve donations of over $19,000.00 to help these children have wishes come true with their families. This year was more successful than last year. Yahoo! These children as you may already know are kids from all over the state of Montana that have been diagnosed with some form of critical illness. The Montana Highway Patrol put together this program geared towards helping these kids do something they have always wanted to do but have never had the chance to because of money, or health complications. Every year in July we host the Montana Hope Project event here at the shop in memory of John “Grandpa” Delekta, and every year Marty “The Montajun” cooks up a huge batch of his ever famous Louisiana Chicken Seafood Gumbo. This year he made 100 pounds of gumbo and it was gone by late afternoon the second day. It was SO GOOOOOD!! We hope you were able to make it in and enjoy some of that. We also had Dan Delekta’s famous elk chili served as another choice of entree and this year the meat was very tender and delicious. And we want to make a shout out to thank you to Elle’s Belles and Vicki!!! They both make some of the best treats you have ever tasted for desserts.  All of it also got eaten! We had some of the shop employees tying flies at the tying table. Hopefully a few of you got to learn a trick or two from them. Thank you Larry for helping with the casting that was going on outside the shop. Thank you Susan for helping folks find their treats. Thank you so much for all the generous donations from all of you. Thank you! Thank you! We already cant wait for next year’s event!!! Let us know if you still want to donate for this year. You can send a check to the Montana Hope Project in memory of Grandpa John Delekta c/o Beartooth Flyfishing PO Box 309, Cameron, MT 59720 and we will make sure it gets to the Montana Hope Project.              

Varney Bridge Construction Update | June 7th

Madison River near Varney Bridge will be closed to boat traffic on Monday, June 10.

The Madison River near the Varney Bridge will be temporarily closed to boat traffic on Monday, June 10 as crews remove the east side of the structure. Completion of work is dependent on good weather. Small sections of the river near the bridge will be restricted through Friday, June 14 as crews finish removing the structure.

Please visit the construction camera here for up-to-date views of the Varney Bridge.

During bridge removal:

  • Boats are restricted to a 6-foot maximum height clearance at the Varney Bridge.
  • Buoys in the river will direct boats through the construction zone.
  • The Fishing Access Site on the east side of the river will remain open for boats to exit the river.

Notification signage will be placed upstream and downstream of the bridge.