Timing is key to many of our endeavors in life, especially in Fishing! We are all impacted by choices of when to cast, when to set the hook, when to use certain Flies, and when to let your Fly swing or drag a little bit longer. These essential moments can mean a glorious catch or a devastating miss. As we roll into true Fall here in the Madison Valley nature has her own timing, just perfect! This last week was just perfect, beautiful weather for the first part of the week and then a gradual turn to rain/snow by the end of the week. If your timing was right, you got the last of the nice weather this week, by Sunday it has become a full Winter wonderland in the Valley! Even so, with this turn of the weather you may have your timing dead on for turning the head of that once in a lifetime Trout!
We have seen consistent flows this week sitting at 830cfs at Kirby and 980cfs at Cameron. Fishing has been consistently great with a Streamer and small dropper combo and various Nymphing combos have been effective also. This coming week is full of cloudy days with mixed rain/snowy conditions, which could be very favorable for some serious BWO action. If you choose to brave the great white North this coming week and need some layering gear to keep you warm, stop on down to Beartooth Flyfishing, we got the gear to keep you going!
Nymphs: Delektable Lil’ Spanker Pheasant Tail, Purple, Blue, Silver, Red Gold #14-#20; Geppert’s Black Machine #18; RS2 Olive #16-#20; Tungsten Split-Case BWO #20; BH Mo River Red, Black #18-#20; Delektable Curved Hook Ranch BWO #16-#18; JH Napoleon Light Olive #18; Zebra Midge Black, Red #18-#20; Sawyer PT Copper, Red #16-#18; Pat’s Rubberleggs Black, Brown/Black, Olive/Brown #8-#10; Delektable Mega Prince Standard Flashback #10; Juju Baetis #18-#20; GB Bubbleback Emerger PT #16-#18; Delektable Hurless Grey, Olive #10; BH Jig Head Pearl, Silver Lightning Bug #16-#18; Tungsten BH Jiggy Frenchie #14; and Delektable Orange Juice Caddis Emerger, Lime Juice #14-#16.
Streamers: Delektable SS/Double/Single Screamer Olive/White, Black, Yellow, White, Badger, Olive/Black, Brown/Yellow #6; Murphey’s Miracle Mile Olive Peanut #4, CH Zuddler White, Olive, Black #4-#8; Lady Gaga White, Rainbow #6; Rubber Bugger Halloween #6; Zonker Natural, Copper, Olive, Black #4-#6; Sculpin “The One” #6; Yo Dali Llama Olive/White, Black/Olive, Natural #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive, Natural #6; and Silky Kitty Olive, White, Black #6.
Dries: Hi-Vis Parachute BWO #20; October Caddis PMX Orange #12; Parachute Adams #18-#20; B’s Emerging Peacock Caddis #16; Delektable BWO Squeezer #18-#20; Delektable Lil’ Teaser BWO #18-#20; Delektable Twisted Baby Orange/Brown, Tan/Brown #12-#16; BWO Para Sipper #20-#22; Delektable Lil’ Chubby UV Pink, Royal #16-#18; and Delektable Chubbyness Rootbeer, Cinnamon #16.
Flows are holding steady at 930 c.f.s. below Hebgen, 1020 at Kirby and 1140 c.f.s. down at Varney. The fly selection has been a little untypical for this time of year but if you can crack the code the fishing has been good. It’s looking like a mild week for this time of year coming up with daytime highs well into the 60’s so get out there and enjoy it!
Under the surface fish are eating things like Zebra Midges, RS2’s, Pat’s Rubberlegs in smaller sizes, small Delektable Big Spankers, Copper Johns and Princes. They’ll take those under a bobber or with a tight line which can be a little better for hooking them in some of the boulder pools.
Streamers are fishing well throughout the upper river. Make sure to swing some flies in front of the boulders as well as behind, we’ve seen a lot of fish holding in front of the rocks. Olive/black and white Delektable Screamers have been great flies as well as Circus Peanuts, McCune’s sculpins, Morrish sculpins and Sculpzillas.
The best part about this story is that Bill IS actually here now. He is NOT daydreaming about monster brown trout while he butters his toast at home. He has built a getaway that is healthy for him away from work, and now he is here. He has set himself up for success not only mentally and therapeutically, but for the fishing too. He is fully prepared.
streamer and hopefully take it, but if not, they usually take the small nymph behind it. Anywho, please get out there and get some fishing time in for yourself with this epic weather. The bite is just simply better with this colder weather. You may have to bundle up a bit more but it usually well worth the effort. To each their own, but I prefer fishing in the snow and blizzard conditions with the way the trout react. Plus, there are a lot less people out there in “your spot” 🙂
despite the “W” factor which prevailed. They had the two really nice weather days in between some winter conditions on the front and back end of their trip. Kim has a reputation for catching the big fish, not to be confused with another Kim we know who also catches big fish, and this time Zac was right in the competition with his sweetheart. Brandon took great care of them floating two different sections of the upper in his new boat which he loves.
The wind being low and temperatures in the 50’s; time to grab my wading staff and sample some deeper buckets. The flies that caught fish included: Delektable Flashback Mega Prince #8; Delektable Flashback Gray and Purple Hurless both #8; Delektable Flashback Mega Prince Olive #8; and of course Delektable Soft Hackle Red Worm #8.
open year round again… Yahoo! We are glad to see less crowding in one section of the river this year compared to past years and to see local residents having an opportunity to fish their back yard. The bite was great today. I stopped counting at 10.
They loved the Delektable Size #8 Flashback Mega Prince, Flashback Gray Hurless, and Flashback Olive Mega Prince, my go to patterns this time of year. I fished mainly deeper buckets with two #8 Delektables with or without weight. Friends fished the next day and had similar results except more of the “W” factor occurred which does come around these days. Call to find out if it’s gusty out here. They used similar bugs including good results with the Black Pat’s Rubberlegs #10 along with the Delektable Flashback Olive Mega Prince #8. In addition, a variety of worms and eggs can be effective this time of year trailed behind a stonefly.
Ruby Creek, McAtee, Varney, Eight Mile Ford, Burnt Tree Hole, Ennis, Valley Garden, and Clutes Landing are all usable and launch able. There is still ice on Ennis Lake but you can go down around it.