Runoff continues to taper down here in the valley. Water clarity is still best above the confluence with the West Fork. But clarity is plenty good throughout the length of the river for some solid fishing throughout. Caddis have begun to emerge although the trout aren’t keyed in on them just yet. The big Stonefly Nymphs are becoming active and moving and we hope to see the big bugs on the water possibly as early as mid to later half of the coming week. Flows now are right around 1,000 cfs river wide.
We’ve seen some days this week where it’s been better to be out early and others where it’s been better in the afternoon. Nymphing is still you’re best bet if you’re out searching for numbers. But if you’re patient, and get a dry in just the right spot you can be rewarded. Streamers have been solid too especially with some cloud cover.
Nymphs: Delektable Guide Stones #6-#8, Delektable Mega Princes #6-#10, Delektable Hurless Stones #6-#10, Pat’s Rubber Legs #6-#8, Prince Nymphs #14-#16, Delektable Lil’ Spankers #14-#18 in Silver, Red, Orange, Blue, and Pheasant Tail. Shop Vacs, $3 dips, Lemon Drops #14-#18. Delektable Hammerheads #14-#16.
Dries: Delektable CDC Holographic Olive Caddis #14-#16, Delektable Halo #14-#16, Delektable Lil’ Chubbies #14-#16. The Lil’ Chubbies are great for a dry dropper rig with a small nymph suspended. We’ve seen some good success the last hour of daylight with the dry dropper rig.
Streamers: Delektable Screamers Single or Articulated-Olive/Black, Natural, Brown/Yellow. Zirdles, Zonkers. Swinging some of the smaller streamers has been effective as well. Patterns such as Slumbusters and Sculpzillas have brought some nice trout to hand for myself in the evenings on the two hander.
With high temps and clearing water the Upper Madison should be a wonderful place to be over the next month. Be sure to get out there and enjoy some great weather in a beautiful place.
After you get bored with that set up and you really want a challenge for a fish it is time to go to Streamers. Kevin used his own creations, but they resemble something along the lines of a Silk Kitty and Sex Dungeon. While he was there, he used only two colors Olive and White. Olive had a few looks but never any commitment from the fish. He was frustrated by this lack of commitment from the fish, so he went to White to trigger more promising strikes. It worked but the strikes were still far and few between. Other people were around Kevin at the start of The Smith River journey that were fishing streamers as well. The color they informed him with was Black and Olive. He never got a fly, but Streamers are never about the fly as they are about the color or colors of the day.
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. 
Some days are good… some days are not as good. When you have a bad day on the river, is it really that bad? Does it ever make you want to quit fishing? Maybe, but probably not. For there to be good days, you must have the “bad” days to make the good days seem “good”. Some people come into the shop and remind me that even the bad days need to be put in the “great days” category, because really, you are still on the river. Now is it really that bad?
The nymph game is picking up to another level with this weather, the fish are eating the larger size Stoneflies that are starting to move more with this weather. They have also been keying in on the shiny patterns. The Lightning Bugs and shiny Nymphs such as the Silvie’s lightning bug, the Silver Lightning Bug and the Delektable Lil’ Spanker Silver are all good little shiny bugs that have been working well with the cloudy weather. Most of those would be in a size 14 or 16. That Crystal Dip in a size 16 on that curved hook are working well. The Pat’s Rubber legs is a tried and true pattern that will get fish in the net for you, but if you wanted to wonder off the beaten path of big nymphs, we have a variety to choose from here. The Delektable Mega Prince Standard in a size 6 or 8 has been a go-to of mine for years and years and years in the fall months. That pattern has fooled so many fish over the years. The Delektable Hurless Stone in the Gray size 6 and 8 is a great pattern for the fall times with the water being lower and a little colder. I would also check out the Delektable Stonefly Candy patterns that work in a number of colors. The Twenty Incher is also a great Stonefly pattern that works well in the size 6 or 8. Mostly, try and get a drag free drift with any big black/brown/olive Stonefly and you will have pretty good luck here on the ole’ Madison with the stones.
