Tag: Beartooth Flyfishing report

April 15th – 28th | Madison River Fishing Report

Flows have been slowly rising out of Hebgen Dam and the weather has been outstanding with most days in the mid 50’s and we even had a couple days touch 70 degrees. This upcoming week is forecasted to be in the mid 60’s most days so get out and enjoy it!

 

Dan and Nancy had a great time floating the river Saturday for Nancy’s birthday and caught some nice fish on some Delektable prototype streamers earlier in the day and on nymphs in the afternoon.

 

The fishing has been fairly consistent with the biggest change from the last report being some moderate Baetis hatches, especially closer to town. With that being said, make sure you’ve got a few small Adams or Purple Crazes in the fly box along with your Midge patterns.

Under the surface things are pretty much the same as the last report. The nymph fishing is by far the most consistent tactic. Flies like the Delektable Stonefly Candy, Delektable Epoxyback, Delektable Lil’ Spankers, Serendipities, Princes, Copper Johns, Worms and Eggs will all get ‘em in the right time and place.

The streamer bite has been pretty good and this is one of our favorite times of year to fish big flies as fish are hungry and a little extra opportunistic when the water is faster. Delektable Double Screamers, Sparkle Minnows, Mini Loops, Zonkers and Sheila’s Sculpins should be all you need to find a few fish.

April 16th- May 1st | Madison River Fishing Report


 

 

 

What a time of year to fish the Upper Madison, the valley is coming to life with bugs, birds, green grass and hungry trout. The river is flowing at 2,100 c.f.s. below Hebgen lake, 2,180 c.f.s. at Kirby Ranch and 2,460 c.f.s. at Varney Bridge and we expect those numbers to keep climbing as Northwestern Energy plans on running a flushing flow at their maximum allowed 3,500 c.f.s. at Kirby for 3 days sometime within the next couple of weeks.

The forecast is showing daytime highs in the upper 60’s and low 70’s for the next ten days with some scattered thunderstorms and night time low temps in the lower 40’s which should make for some awesome days on the water. As always for this time of year look for fish to be spreading out throughout the river as water temps come up.

Dry fly fishing is picking up as we’re starting to see March Browns hatching closer to town along with the Blue Wing Olives that have been around in good numbers for a couple weeks now. After looking at water temps I don’t think it’ll take more than a week or so before we see big Caddis hatches. Our favorite patterns have been the BWO Para-Sipper, Batwing Emergers, and the Split-Wing Adams.

Streamer fishing has also been on the upswing with some days displaying some serious action. Our best bugs have been Black/Olive Delektable Double Screamers, Trevor’s Sculpin, Mini Loops and Sparkle Minnows. I’ve had better luck with a slower retrieve with lots of little jerks and pops on the way in.

You’ll all be surprised to hear that nymphs still catch ‘em too. With the flows being up a bit you won’t want to forget the split shot at home and if you’re wondering how you didn’t get a take in that perfect bucket you may want to try some more weight before changing up flies. The best flies have been the Olive Delektable Mega Prince, Delektable Hurless Stone, Delektable Hammerhead Jig-Hook Prince, Lightning Bugs, Worms and smaller Pat’s Rubberlegs.