Tag: big brown trout
June 19th – 25th|Madison River Fishing Report
Welcome to SUMMER!!!
Our wonderful summer has started with a MASSIVE grand opening thanks to our great friends and flawless family the SALMON FLIES, GOLDEN STONES, Caddis flies, and May flies. The weather is ideal for fishing. So it is time to ditch those waders and boots and go for the river sandals and wet wade. The river is flowing out of Hebgen Dam at a CFS of 1280 and 1820 CFS at Kirby. The river is crystal clear on the upper sections; the runoff is gone and the fish can see everything. The river is still a touch above normal but not overflowing onto the banks, making them very walkable again. THE TIME FOR FISHING IS NOW!!
How 
would I approach the river you may ask? Great question, and I bet you can guess on your first try. Yup! Dry fly season is here; come one and all! Everyone is invited to the spectacle that is dry fly fishing, with the best of all the dry fly circus spectacles here, the Salmon flies. If you want to see monster eats and toilet-bowl flushes , start with the Delektable Chubbyness 
Little Yellow Stone #14-16, Dan’s Secret Salmon #6, Delektable Secret Goldenstone #6, and Delektable Mega 2-Tone Chubbyness Orange #6. These have been our best produces for those fat U Boats (Brown Trout). At the same time, Caddis flies have been equally crushing some serious U Boats, as the BOMBER Caddis are hatching along the whole river. Trust me the caddis are bombing the water 
kamakaze style and giving fish their life. Our personal best and favorite dries for these are the Delektable CDC Elk Hair Caddis olive, holographic olive, and tan #14, Delektable Twisted X Tan/Brown, Purple #14, Bloom’s Parachute Caddis Dark Olive #14, and the Delektable Twisted Sister Tan/Brown #14.
These fish are still wreaking havoc 
under the surface. Since the arrival of the Salmon flies, the stonefly nymphs have been providing large numbers of quality fish. Caddis and Mayfly nymphs have been doing just as great. The small dropper is like a great cheese with your cheese
burger; but this cheese burger is meant to be feed to fish and get that perfectly bent rod. Our favorite “cheeses” are the
Delektable Stoner #6, Pat’s Rubber Legs #8, Delektable Mega Prince with and without flash #6, Delektable CDC Baby #12-16, Psycho Prince Yellow #14-16, Shop Vac #16-18, Delektable Sure Strike Peacock and Yellow/Peacock #14-16, Lightning Bug in pearl, purple, and silver #16, Delektable Lil’ Spanker in PT, silver, and gold #14-16, and Delektable Hammer Head Prince #14-16.
As for the steak bite, a.k.a., 
the streamer bite, that has slowed down quite a bit. The great news, however, is that our great leader NANCY has figured out a pattern that works and that is our other great leader’s pattern the Delektable Badger Screamer.
This is how we have been catching fish throughout the day; if you follow these rules surely you’ll have that necessary grin on your face and the rod tip bent towards a fish. Now go out, have fun, enjoy the view and river, and most of all catch fish.
May 29th|Henry’s Fork River Fishing Report
March 19th-25th|Madison River Fishing Report
October 10th-15th |Madison River Fishing Report
Well, well, well, fall is rolling right along and we have had the privilege of having some real fun groups come in and we’ve made some new friends along the way! Thanks to all the people who make it possible every year for us to exist. (for you!) The groups this week have had to deal with some extreeeme weather (50-60 mph winds) due to the tailing storm patterns going on over on the west coast. We have received another healthy dose of rain and also some more snow in the mountains. Well folks, today’s weather is brought to you by …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………SHARK WEEEEK!!!! Episode #3…………………………
These brown/black/yellow/orange sharks are being pulled out of the Madison River on the regs lately and are acting like vicious, sculpin-blood-thirsty predators. If you are out early in the early morning you will have the best luck (because it’s fall), but with the clouds and the weather the way that it has been all day long, it will be good…all day long. Our clients and guides have been reporting that the streamer bite is really crazy right now and that small children should keeps their hands and feet inside the boats at all times. Children have been known to lose fingers just by sticking them in the water around this time of year.
These toothy brown trout will stop at nothing to get a quick taste of a squirmy little fingers. After all, it will give those little sculpins a little break. The Sculpin is a small tapered olive fish with a big head, and browns and rainbows alike just love the little guy. It’s usually an easy snack any time of day, but it’s especially good in the morning. Breakfast to go with a side of…..SET THE HOOOOK!!!!!!!
I hope you are taking full advantage of the fall fishing as I and my friends at the shop here are. The rain has stopped for a bit now and the cloud cover is at a sick point sick on the sickter scale. (100% full send). So, please do yourself a favor and get out there!!!
If you need any pointers on what to use, here ya go, try something like these: Dan Delekta’s Delektable Screamers and Delektable Double Screamers in all the colors; Bern Sundell’s Bad Boy in all of his colors; Bern Sundell’s Silver Fire; Sculpzilla size 4 and 8 in black, olive and white, Trevor in black, olive, and white; Silvies Woolhead in white and silver; Kelly Galloup’s Sex Dungeons and Silky Kittys in whites, blacks and olives; The Zonker in pearl, copper, natural and white. And last but not least for my recommendations is the Bow River Bugger in a size 6 or 8.
We still have had a good bite on the 
big nymph as I said last week, as it is still going on under there in the dark world. The small BWO’s and Calibaetis #18’s and #20’s are out and about providing little scrumptious meals for the eager hard-working brightly spotted teenagers out there. You won’t need to be throwing anything small unless you are imitating those little guys right there. Also the midges are black and grayish and are about a size #20-24 and everywhere this time of year. Those tiny guys are verrrry effective if you are up to the challenge. I have a friend who is in his 70’s that has been knocking them down one by one with the 22’s and 24’s. “The cast must be a perfect cast, every time, on the first cast. Then you see the swirl in the film.”
In the guide world, the little nymphs that just catch fish are working just fine, as usual. The Lightening Bug size 14 behind a Pat’s Rubber Legs black size 8 is a sure combo to get fish in the boat. The Delektable Mega Prince Standard size 8 is a great nymph to put up top and get yer little guys down in the fish’s faces. Working here at the shop, I have been seeing a lot of small olive and darker guys in the #16-18 range going out the door. Also, the caddis right now are gray and in a size #14, maybe #15. A prince nymph in a size #12-14 is a sure catch most of the day. Tungsten beaded nymphs will help it get down even faster if you are having trouble tagging the bottom every now and then. The October Caddis has been flying around and he’s about a size 10 dry. Any orange or brown stone nymph in that size too will work for him too. We have a series of Delektable stones and nymphs that will work for the Octobers if you come in and are looking for some new guys to try.
Well, I hope to hear about your wild fishing stories here at the shop when you stop by! But for now, if you are feeling the skunk while chuck’n the junk, keep on keeping on, cause those brown punks will eventually get outta their bunks ta bust yer funk. But if they won’t…….. I guess go get drunk! 🙂
Happy Fishing!!! -DanG
September 28th- October 9th | Madison River Fishing Report
So the episodes of Shark Week continue……
These last weeks we have been waiting for the colder weather to come in and stir things up. Well, we got our wishes and the fish are all kinds of riled up now. Last week was a good start to the fall fishing and now it is in fullll… swiiiing!!! We have been seeing some good sized fish in the last few days here. The streamer bite has been on and there have been some nice fish coming in and submitting to the net. The BWO and Baetis bite is on because of the colder weather too, so if you don’t like throwing streamers or big nymphs, you are still going to be satisfied with decent dry fly fishing! That being said, I would like to tell a quick dry story. Emmett and his father went out to throw nymphs. Big fish were lurking and looking up. Now, dad had his bobber get eaten by a decent sized fish a few times and so he told his son, Emmett. Dad: “what should we throw on?” Emmett: “Well, lets throw a salmon fly on.” So, in very late September they throw salmon flies on and…. well you guessed it…blaaam, they were into a few nice fish. Take a peak, its Shark Week!!! ….again.
Now, before I get into the streamer talk (which is probly going to seem repetitive)
I’ll let you in on the guide bugs and whats working for them out there right now. The stones are crawling around and a Black Pat’s Rubber Legs in a size 8 will do just fine. There are a couple of different colors in that pattern that are also working very well, like Brown, Tan/Brown, Black/Brown and Olive/Black. The size is an 8 but a size on either side of that will do just fine also. Bend the shank to give it a much buggier look (and give you an up on yer buddies) 🙂 . Also, try a Twenty Incher Stone (it’s a peacock stone) in a size 8 or 10. As usual, the Delektable Mega Prince Standard size 10-8 is a good call for any stretch of the river, but especially the top end right now. The rock pocket 
picking is spectacular above the Lyons Bridge Recreational Area all the way up to the Slide at Quake Lake. The Prince nymph in a size 12 has been a “go-to” with the guides here as well as a whole slew of small darker BWO/Calibaetis style nymphs. As for the streamer bite… all the colors are working, all of the silhouettes are slaying and all the rods SHOUUULD…theoretically and historically be…BENT!!! Some of the best colors have been olive and black combos on articulated streamers. Olive and Yellow has been really good too. Black, Black and Blue, Black and Purple, White, Silver, Tan and various colors of the natural spectrum have been doing well. That pretty much covers the rainbow huh? Well, if you are having trouble hooking up on the “straum” (streamer) and you want to quit and throw nymphs again, just take a look at these photos and rethink your decision. If you want to catch a fish on a streamer…you must first throw the streamer…in the water. 
I don’t want to give away all the secrets about streamer fishing to the world wide web, but if you would like to know a little more, please come on in and let’s have a ‘lil heart to heart eh? Please have a wonderful rest of your season and fish your brains out!!!
Happy Fishing!!! _DanG
September 20-27, 2016 | Madison River Fishing Report
The Mighty Madison has a couple of weeks every year where it has the potential to be …. Shark Week! …and it’s now. Brown sharks… Sharks… Sharking. Sharks attacking streamers…
This past week has been really quite awesome in regards to the streamer bite. All the leaves are in full bloom and raging yellows and reds and oranges. In corrilation, all the streamer colors are working. All of them. White has always been my favorite, but lately its been the olive/gold combo. This river is just full of streamer-eating, carnivorous, slimey, fattened up monsters now. The lakes (Ennis and Quake) are literally putting out, I mean puuuutting out right now.
The float sections down near town have been really good this past week and seem to get better by the day. But then again, some of the big fish you see in theses pictures came from higher up. Some of us have been throwing only streamers and doing verrrry well. This is the time to do that if it’s not really been a strong point for you. Your chances are looking pretty good right now, just throw it in the water in the morning and you might be surprised. But do take a second to look at the colors on the trout before you slip them back in the water, they are just gorgeous!!! Also, take a look at a few of these photos and the colors they have been displaying!
The streamers that have been hurled out here involve multiple articulations and/or stinger hooks. Trevor has been catching fish, Sheila has been catching fish, the Zonker has been catching fish, Mini Loop has been doing well and of course Dan Delekta’s Double Screamer in all the colors. Bow River Bugger has also been getting stripped outta the bins here at the shop. they are still eating the nymph really well too if stripping streamers is just not your thing. Some dries are even working yet. The Ant and even the Hopper are out in this late September weather. If your are a dry or die kinda guy or gal, you will still be matching up with BWO’s, Caddis and Midges in the 18-22 size range. The nymphs that most of the guides are going out the door with are getting back to the larger size.Try some bigger prince nymphs and bigger lightening bugs. It is about that time of year again where you are going to see the size 14 mayfly patterns working again. Well, there is the polished version. If you need more info and you just want to talk to us here at the shop, call us! If you are more lost than a Salmonfly in September (which does happen occasionally) call us and any one of us will be happy to point you in the right direction. Happy Fishing!!! -DanG
October 25, 2015 | Madison River Fishing Report
Time for an updated Madison River fishing report!
Cooler but not COLD weather is expect for the next while which is a great thing for fishing! Hunting season is in full swing and boat traffic on the river is minimal throughout. Looking outside, it is overcast and quite pleasant out. The Madison River flows are still flat lining around 900 CFS.
The fishing is excellent during certain times of the day. Mornings are slow, but not a lot of people are fishing early so who knows if that is actually true. The bite seems to pick up late morning with steady action using #8-10 black girdle bugs followed with something silver. I’d try the Zebra Midge or Crystal Dip as well. Also working are the medium sized streamers. Try black, olive or tan colors with a little flash. Definitely give the micro egg patterns a shot as fish seem to be keying in them with the whitefish spawning during the night. Many anglers have noticed the bite abruptly shutting down as the sun begins to dip around 5 pm. You can expect some good fishing leading up to that.
Anyways, feel free to call the shop if you need a report or information on flies. Stop in to check out our end of the season clothing sale, and our heavily discounted rental waders and boots that are still 60-70% off!
-Parker Redmond
October 21, 2015 | Current Upper Madison River Conditions
Here are the current Upper Madison River conditions.
The river flows have been hovering steadily around 900 CFS for quite a while now with some very slight increases here and there with the little amount of rainfall that we’ve had. There are a few bony sections at these flows but otherwise this flow provides perfect habitat for our trout.
If you look at last week’s water temperature readings you can see there was a consistent 10-degree temperature swing occurring due to the sharp decrease in overnight air temperature. That trend stabilized when the low pressure from Sunday-Tuesday moved over the region, however we could see it come back if it stays clear over the next couple days. This can make for slow fishing early in the morning so I would say that there is no rush to get out there, which is nice when we have afternoon temperatures in the high 60s! Afternoon fishing into the evening should be a good bet after the water temperatures exceed 50 degrees.
Currently we’ve got some snow in the higher elevations from the
recent storm activity. This morning was socked in with fog and we had our first significant frost as temperatures begin to dip below freezing in the early hours of morning. The fog cleared quickly and it looks like we are in for some nice weather for the next several days. You can expect crisp, clear weather with occasional periods of partial cloud cover and slight possibilities for rain. For the most part, we are expecting some unseasonable mild conditions midday.
As for the fishing, overcast conditions have led to some spectacular streamer action. If you do get some cloud cover, try ripping a big dark colored streamer. In my opinion WHITE IS ALWAYS RIGHT, but during the clear afternoons/evenings it is certainly a good choice. We also had some good reports on black and/or olive sculpin patterns fished under an indicator. Try pairing those up with a #8-10 black Pat’s Rubber Legs, a worm or an egg. Significant BWO and midge hatches are also triggering an excellent bite at times using #20-22 nymph and emerger patterns. This action could subside a bit with the clear weather we have now, but certainly give it a go. We also have had a few guides come in to report a steady dry fly bite using Dan’s Delektable Chubbyness in sizes #12-16. Try trailing a BWO, midge or calibaetis emerger behind that as well as various #14-18 pheasant tails or lightning bugs. This could be a good bet on the sunny afternoons.
Fish are definitely moving into their spawn with many redds reported between the lakes and leading into the park. Remember to tread lightly as you wade the river this time of the year. Those redds are crucial to our river’s future.
Lastly, this time of the year is perfect for exploring new waters with less people. It’s been flat out gorgeous throughout the state so get out there!
-Parker Redmond
October 4-10, 2015 | Anniversary Getaway on the Rogue River
Dan and Nancy ventured off to the Rogue for their anniversary steelhead retreat. Dan got a chance to dust off his old Lavro drift boat. Here is his account:
Steelhead addiction was achieved for Nancy Delekta 13 years ago by her loving husband Mr. Delektable. My addiction for steelhead started when I was 14 years old- Thank you, Grandpa. The Rogue River steelhead of southern Oregon have been calling us in October each year for our wedding anniversary. We don’t get to go every year and this year was limited to one week. Nancy and I spent a week fishing and hanging out at steelhead camp with our friends Jeff, Jewels, Andy, Steve, Cam, Dave, Heather, John and Hannah. Special thanks to Jeff and Jewels for the great meals and accomodations and Special thanks to Jack for selling our bugs at The Fishin’ Hole Fly Shop in Shady Cove, and to Angie for providing breakfast and our box lunches on the river. The Delektable flies that caught steelhead were:
#6-8 Delektable Bug Midnight Fire Flashback black/orange legs
#6-8 Delektable Bug Copper/Gold/Black with black legs and black/orange legs
#8-12 Delektable BH Lime Juice
#8-12 Delektable BH Orange Juice
#8-12 Delektable BH CDC Baby
#8-12 Delektable Tungsten BH Red Headed Big Spankers
#12-14 Delektable Jig Hook Hammerhead Hare’s Ear
#12-14 Delektable Jig Hook Hammerhead Prince
Nancy caught a nice sea run cut in addition to the steelheads she caught. She could also share with you an interesting story about a tooth ache and going to the dentist in Shady Cove to fix it.
Thanks Jenn, Parker, and Dan G for covering for Dan and Nancy.
-Parker and Nancy