Tag: Fly tying

September 5th – 11th | Madison River Fishing Report

Fishing on the Upper Madison right now continues to be an adventure of adaptation and changing strategies throughout the day. But you can certainly bring plenty of fish to the net if you are willing to change it up. Streamer action remains strong in the early mornings. Stripping, swinging, and dead drifting are all working.

As the sun gets higher there are still fish looking up for Nocturnals. A well placed Chubby or Water Walker in a Dark Olive tone is a good way to go. Drop a small Nymph off the back and you have a great chance with that.

As you transition into afternoon start fishing the Hoppers and the Ants, or Hopper Dropper. Attractor dries are also working at times.

Or if your wanting some numbers and don’t mind staring at the indicator all day go sub surface with a two fly rig and bring some in that way. Stonefly Nymphs, Bright Flashy Attractor Nymphs, Perdigons, old standby’s like Shop Vac’s, $3 and Crystal Dips, and Lightning Bugs are all good patterns to try.

There are a lot of anglers having success swinging Soft Hackles as well.

Best way to describe it right now is have plenty of ammo and be willing to change things up throughout the day until you start finding that consistency. The transition to fall is well underway to be sure.

We just want to as always say a huge thank you to all of our customers. Your support and patronage is so appreciated. And if you aren’t a regular here at Beartooth Flyfishing yet, please stop by and share some of your Montana trip with us. We are always here with great advice for fly selection, or any of your other Gear needs. We still have plenty of Cortland Clearance lines at 40% off. A lot of 7 and 8 weight lines available for those of you who may need a new Steelhead Line for the Fall. Be safe and enjoy a beautiful time on the River out there.

Dries: Delektable Chubbyness in Rootbeer, UV Purple and UV Cinnamon #12-#16. Delektable Lil’ Chubby in Royal, UV Cinnamon, UV Tan #14-#18. Delektable Secret Stone Dark Olive #10-#12. Delektable Secret Stone UV Goldenstone #12. Purple Haze #12-#18. Carlson’s Purple Craze #12-#18. Parachute Adams #12-#18. Delektable Flying Ant in Cinnamon and Red #14-#16. Bloom’s Stealth Ant Purple #16. Dornan’s Water Walker September Stone #14. Delektable Lil’ Secret in Royal, UV Pink #16-#18.

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback #8-#10. Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, Olive/Black, Coffee/Black, and Brown #8-#10. Delektable Jig Hook Tungsten Spanker in Pheasant Tail, Silver, Orange, and Red #14-#18. Delektable Lil’ Spanker in Silver, Gold, Purple, Blue, and Red #12-#18. Shop Vac #16-#18. $3 Dollar and Crystal Dips #16-#18. Formerly Known as Prince #12-#18. Prince Nymph #12-#18. Pheasant Tail Nymph #16-#18. Micro May in Olive #18-#20. Lil’ Green Machine Pheasant Tail #18-#20.

Soft Hackles: Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle, Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle, Full Dressed Red, Partridge and Orange, Partridge and Olive, Partridge and Purple.

Streamers: Delektable Screamer Single or Double in White, Olive/Black, Badger, Yellow/Brown. Delektable SS Jointed Screamer in Olive/White. Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow, Coffey’s Sparkle Yummy. Sculpzilla’s in White, Olive, Black, Natural, #6-#8. Mini Loop Sculpin in Natural and Olive. Zonkers in Copper, Silver, and Olive. Galloup’s Dungeons Regular and Mini in Black, Olive, White. Galloup’s Boogie Man in Olive, Black, and White. Galloup’s Silk Kitty in Olive or White. Kreelex Minnow’s. Montana Intruders.

August 29th – September 4th | Madison River Fishing Report

Today is the 4th of September and I awoke realizing that today is the Archery Season opener for Deer and Elk here in Montana. It boggles my mind just how fast time flies during our short Summer seasons in the Northern Rockies. The mornings leave no doubt that fall and winter are right around the corner. It’s been very cool and actually chilly in the early mornings over that last ten days. And we will gladly take it after the extreme heat of June and July that had all our area rivers under Hoot Owl conditions for a month. But that is a distant memory now and we have a few more weeks of great fishing ahead. With Fall hatches of Blue Winged Olives and the annual spawning runs of Brown Trout entering the rivers and tribs to chase the bunny fur and soft hackles.

Overall fishing on the Upper Madison remains pretty good as long as your willing to be patient, rotate through some bugs and colors, and adjust your strategies to current conditions. Streamers fished dead drift with a twitch, or stripped are bringing in plenty of quality fish in the early to mid morning time periods each day. And Streamers are continuing to fish decently throughout the day once you find the color and size that Trout prefer. Nymphing remains your best bet for a larger catch rate. Two fly rigs with a Pat’s Rubberlegs, Delektable Mega Prince, or Wire Worm trailed with a size #16 to #18 trailer Nymph in most of the usual suspects is the way to go. There are plenty of Ants along the banks and that has been the go to for surface activity for the last several days. A small to mid sized Chubby or Water Walker trailed by an Ant has been a popular rig. Hoppers continue to be very inconsistent. There are Hopper windows here and there usually in the Noon to 2:30 window. But with the smokey haze and calmer winds it is looking more and more that the stellar Hopper seasons we had the last two years might not materialize this season. But keep chucking them. You just need that one player to come up and slurp that bad boy down.

We are selling through a good amount of our 40% off Rio and Cortland Clearance lines. A solid selection still exists especially on the Cortland side. So, please come by and pick up a fresh line or two if you have a rod or two in need of a new line. And as always free coffee in the mornings and some great advice from the Delektable crew. We appreciate you all so much for your support and all the friendships we’ve made throughout the years.

Dries: Delektable Chubbyness in Rootbeer, Royal, and UV Cinnamon #12-#16. Delektable Lil’ Chubby in UV Cinnamon, Tan, Royal #14-#18. Delektable Flying Ant in Cinnamon, Red, Purple, Black #14-#18. Yeager’s 409 in Red #16. Bloom’s Stealth Ant in Purple #16. Delektable Lil’ Secret in UV Pink and Royal #16-#18. Dornan’s Water Walker September Stone #14. Delektable Secret Stone in Dark Olive #10-#12. Morrish Hopper, Thunder Thighs Hopper, More or Less Hopper, Panty Dropper Hopper in Tan, Peach, Pink #10-#14.

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback #6-#10. Pat’s Rubberlegs in Olive/Black, Coffee/Black #6-#10. Delektable Lil’ Spanker in Silver, Gold, Purple, Pheasant Tail #16-#18. Delektable Jig Hook Tungsten Spanker in Silver, Pheasant Tail, and Orange #14-#16. Lightning Bugs in Silver, Gold, Purple #14-#18. Delektable Prince Brandon and Prince Nymphs #14-#18. Shop Vac’s #16-#18. $3 Dollar Dips Brown #16-#18. Crystal Dips #16-#18. Zebra Midge in Black/Silver, Black/Copper, and Red/Silver #18-#20. Wire Worms #4-#8.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed Screamer in White/Olive. Delektable Screamers Single or Double in Black/Olive, White, and Badger. Sex Dungeons full size and Mini in Olive, Black, and Cream. Trevor’s Sculpin in Black and Olive. Silk Kitties in Olive and White. Mini Loop Sculpin in Olive or Tan. Zonkers in Copper, Silver, and Olive. Sculpzilla’s in Olive, Black, and White.

August 22nd – 28th | Madison River Fishing Report

It’s been an absolutely beautiful week in the Madison Valley. Perfect weather and calm winds have allowed the valley to clear out a good amount of the smoke from the numerous fires in the West. Temps in the 70’s, it’s been just wonderful. The mornings are crisp and Fall is right around the corner.

Fishing can be good to great if you have the patience to weed through the smaller fish or are willing to get out there in the early mornings stripping or swinging the bunny fur. Streamer fishing remains good to very good in the early mornings. With Black and Olive patterns being popular choices. When the sun gets high switching to a White or Natural colored Streamer has paid dividends. Some very good fish have been taken throughout the river this past week on Streamers.

The Dry Fly game right now is one of patience and accuracy. The bigger fish will eat on top but you need that fly in the right seam and drifting drag free. And of course there is the constant harassment to your dries from the little tikes in the river. Small to Mid Size Chubbies, Ants, and Attractor Dries have been the best patterns for surface activity. Along with a few Hoppers.

For the nymphing action two fly rigs with a Mega Prince or Pat’s Rubberlegs trailed by numerous Attractor Nymphs, Serendipities, or Perdigon’s have been fishing the best. Flows have dropped in the last couple weeks, so for you floaters out there it is getting a bit boney in certain areas of the flats and down around Ennis. Keep an eye out for those sneaky chine busters.

We still have plenty of great Discontinued Cortland lines in stock at 40% off. We have plenty of bugs in stock and as always free coffee in the mornings. Have a great time out there on the river.

Dries: Delektable Lil’ Chubby in UV Cinnamon, Royal, Tan, #14-#18. Delektable Chubbyness in UV Cinnamon, Rootbeer, and Royal #12-#16. Delektable Lil’ Secret in UV Pink, and Royal #16-#18. Delektable Flying Ant in Cinnamon, Black, Red #14-#18. Parachute Adams #10 – #16. Carlson’s Purple Craze #12-#16. Purple Haze #10-#16. Morrish Hopper, Panty Dropper Hopper, More or Less Hopper, Thunder Thighs Hopper in Tan, Pink, Peach, Yellow #12-#14. Water Walker September Stone #14.

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback #8-#10. Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, Brown, Brown/Black, Olive/Black #8-#10. Delektable Lil’ Spanker in Silver, Red, Purple, Pheasant Tail #14-#16. Pheasant Tail Nymph #14-#18. Lightning Bugs in Silver and Gold #14-#18. Prince Nymphs #12-#18. $3 Dips Brown #16-#18. Crystal Serendipities #16-#18. Wire Worm #4-#8. Perdigon’s Olive tones #16-#18.

Streamers: Delektable Screamers Single and Double in White, Olive/Black, Badger. Delektable SS Jointed Screamer Olive/White. Mini Loop Sculpin in Tan and Olive. Sparkle Minnow. Sex Dungeon & Mini Sex Dungeon in Olive, Black, and Cream. Silk Kitties Olive and White. Zonkers in Copper, Silver, and Olive. Sculpzillas #8 Olive, Black, Natural, and White.

August 15th – 21st | Madison River Fishing Report

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a fun week up here in the Madison Valley with lots of good news heading the flyfishing communities way. Hoot Owl restrictions were lifted on the Upper Madison and Missouri from Holter to Cascade on Tuesday. Then Saturday Yellowstone National Park lifted their Hoot Owl restrictions on all the rivers and streams within the Park. The Lower Madison below Ennis Dam to it’s confluence with the Missouri will remain on Hoot Owl restrictions until further notice. This has allowed us all to get back to a bit more normal schedules and a bit more rest overnight. Then we had three solid days of cool and rainy weather. Which has helped water temps lower in most of our major fisheries. Some very solid streamer days were had. With some large browns being landed river wide. Nymphing has remained decent to very good most days. And we even had some clients that stuck to the dries throughout the inclement weather and had great success as well. We have some beautiful weather forecasted for the next ten days or so with plenty of sunshine and temps in the 70’s and low 80’s. So we are all hoping and looking forward to being able to throw Hoppers, Ants, Beetles, and large attractors all day and evening without the restrictions in place.

Streamers and Nymphing will be the name of the game early or twitching those Chubbies for the Nocturnals until Mid Morning or Mid Day. Then transition into Terrestrials, Attractor Dries, and Dry Dropper rigs for the rest of the day and evening. Maybe finish off with some more Streamer fishing the last hour of light.

We have plenty of bugs in stock for all your needs whether it be Dries, Nymphs, or Streamers. We have just marked down a huge amount of Cortland flylines at 40% off and invite you to come in and pick a line or two up in case you’ve got a rod or two in need of a fresh line. Cortland doesn’t get as much hype as the RIO or SA but has always been one of the best lines and nothing has changed today. These are great lines at a great price. It’s been wonderful seeing some of our regular customers back in the shop again now that we all don’t have to sprint to the river at 6am. And we look forward to meeting many new faces and hope those of you have not yet discovered what Beartooth Flyfishing has to offer, will soon come in and let us take care of you. Enjoy the time on the water and be safe out there.

Dries: Delektable Chubbyness in Royal, Rootbeer, UV Cinnamon #12-#16. Delektable Lil’ Chubby in Royal, UV Cinnamon, UV Tan #14-#18. Delektable Lil’ Secret in Royal, UV Pink #16-#18. Parachute Adams #10-#16. Carlson’s Purple Craze #10-#16. Rusty Spinners #14-#16. Morrish Hopper, Panty Dropper Hopper, Thunder Thighs Hopper in Tan, Pink, Peach, Yellow #12-#14. Delektable Flying Ant in Cinnamon, Black, Black/Red, Purple #14-#16. Bloom’s Stealth Ant Purple #16. Yeagers 409 Red #16.

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback #8-#10. Pats Rubberlegs Black, Olive/Black, Coffee/Black, Brown #8-#12. Delektable Lil’ Spanker in Silver, Red, Blue, Purple, and Pheasant Tail #14-#18. Lightning Bugs in Silver and Purple #16-#18. Pheasant Tail Nymphs #14-#18. Micro Mays #16-#18. Little Green Machine PT #16-#18. Wire Worms #4-#8. Shop Vacs #14-#18. $3 Dips Brown #16-#18. Crystal Dips #16-#18. Prince Nymphs #14-#18. Perdigons #14-#18.

Streamers: Delektable Screamers Single or Double or Stainless Steel Jointed in Black, Olive, White, Olive/White, Olive/Black. Trevor’s Sculpin Black or Olive. Silk Kitties Olive and White. Dungeons Standard or Mini in White, Olive, Black. Mini Loop Sculpin Tan and Olive. Zonkers in Silver, Copper, and Olive. Small Bunny Leeches in Black. Sculpzilla in Black or Olive. Sparkle Minnows. 

 

August 8th – 14th | Madison River Fishing Report

Hoot Owl restrictions remain in effect for the foreseeable future on the Upper Madison. So get on early and put those rods away at 2pm. Fishing overall remains pretty good. Although it seems each day right now is different. With periods of time and stretches of river producing that may or may not have produced the day before. It’s a patience game at times. Switching bugs, tactics, colors, to whatever our fishy friends want at that particular time. Nymphing is definitely your best bet for solid action throughout the day. But if you’re willing to stick with the dries and are patient and have a solid rotation of patterns you can bring some tiny guys as well as some nice ones to the net. And the streamer game is showing some great signs of life over that last week.

The dry fly action with hoppers, ants, and beetles has shown a bit more consistency over the last week. Especially in the Storey to Varney area. Tan, Yellow, Peach, and Pink seem to be the general colors of choice. In the mornings we still have some Epeourous Spinners and some Caddis out and about. So it’s wise to have some Rusty Spinners and your favorite Caddis imitations just in case. Nocturnals also remain active in the mornings as well.

As we said before nymphing remains fair to good most days. With Prince variants, Small to Mid Size Pat’s Rubberlegs, Lightning Bugs, Shop Vac’s , Dips, Delektable Lil’ Spankers and Pheasant Tails.

Streamer fishing is bringing some great fish early in the mornings. If you can get on at dawn or slightly before there are some players out there ready to pounce. Trailing your streamer with a small nymph continues to be highly effective as well over the last several days. Standard colors like Olive and Black are working great in the mornings and throughout the day. Brighter colors are taking some good fish also when the sun is high and bright.

We just received some of Dan’s new patterns this week. The full assortment of the Delektable Lil’ Secret Dries are now in stock in UV Cinnamon, Royal, Goldrush, and UV Caddis Green. These are great patterns to imitate smaller Stoneflies, Nocturnals, and make a good low riding Hopper Pattern as well. I had a chance to test some out a couple mornings ago and they did not disappoint. So stop by and grab some while you can. The guides and visitors are gobbling them up as we speak.

Dries: Thunder Thighs Hopper, Morrish Hopper, More or Less Hopper, Half Down Hopper in Tan, Peach, Pink, Yellow, #12-#14. Delektable Flying Ant in UV Cinnamon, UV Purple, Black, Black/Red, Red #14-#16. Delektable Lil’ Chubby in Royal, UV Cinnamon, Tan #14-#18. Delektable Chubbyness in Royal, UV Cinnamon, UV Purple and Rootbeer #12-#16. Parachute Adam’s #10-#16. Purple Haze #10 – #16. Yeager’s 409 Red #14-#16. Delektable Lil’ Secret UV Cinnamon, Royal #12-#18.

Nymphs: Pat’s Rubberlegs Black, Olive/Black,Brown, Coffee/Black #8-#12. Delektable Lil’ Spankers Silver, Gold, Red, Pheasant Tail #12-#18. Lightning Bugs Silver, Gold #14-#18. Shop Vac’s #14-#16. 3 Dollar Dips Brown #16-#18. Crystal Dips #16-#18. Formerly Known as Prince #12-#16. Prince Nymph #12-#16. Wire Worms #4-#8. Pheasant Tail Nymph #14-#18.

Streamers: Delektable Screamers Single and Double Black/Olive, Olive/White, Olive, White. Zonkers Natural and Olive. Trevor’s Sculpin Olive and Black. Dungeons Full Size and Mini. Silk Kitty. Sparkle Minnows. Kreelex. Sculpzilla Olive and Black.

As you can see we had a visit from two of the Hoot Owl Trout Princesses. They gave Dan some great Karma for that Fattie ‘Bow.

August 1st – 7th | Madison River Fishing Report

 

It’s hard to believe we are through the first week in August already. Archery season is just around the corner and there is a touch of fall in the air in the early mornings. But still plenty of fishing to be had. We are still under Hoot Owl restrictions here on the Upper Madison. So keep in mind you need to lay the rods down at 2pm and enjoy the scenery with a cocktail after that. Or get out in the middle of the night and find that Brown of a lifetime on a juicy Mouse pattern. We’ve received more much needed rain over the last several afternoons and we are very thankful for that.

 

 

 

 

 

After the last two epic Hopper seasons, so far this year is shaping up as a tougher one. Of course the Hoot Owl closures don’t help by taking away a huge portion of the prime Hopper time on the River. If your patient and rotate through some colors and patterns you can get some action on them. But Ant patterns and Chubbies are fishing more consistently each day. And you can never go wrong with the Dry Dropper rig this time of year.

Nymphing remains consistent and is solid to very good most days. Pat’s Rubberlegs in Olive/Brown, Brown/Black, Delektable Guide Stones are working, Lightning Bugs, Delektable Lil’ Spankers, Flashback Pheasant Tails, and Wire Worms have been fishing well over the last several days.

Dead drifting and stripping streamers early in the mornings is bringing in good results. Sculpin imitations in Olive, Natural Zonkers, and White have been popular this week. Trailing your streamer with a small nymph has been a solid strategy too.

Dries: Delektable Mega 2Tone Chubbyness in Royal and UV Purple #10-#12. Delektable Lil’ Chubby in Royal, UV Tan, UV Cinnamon #14-#16. Delektable Chubbyness Rootbeer and Cinnamon #12-#16. Delektable Flying Ant in UV Cinnamon #14-#16. Delektable Twisted X Orange/Brown #10-#12. Royal Wulff Cripple #16. Parachute Adams #10-#16. Rusty Spinners #14-#16. Purple Haze #10-#16.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback #8-#10, Pat’s Rubber Legs Olive/Brown, Brown/Black #8-#10. Delektable Guide Stones same size and colors as Pat’s, Delektable Lil’ Spanker Silver, Gold, Red, Blue, Purple #14-#18. Lightning Bugs Silver, Gold #14-#18. 3 Dollar Dips #16-#18. Crystal Dips #16-#18. Shop Vac’s #14-#18. Prince’s, Delektable Prince Brandon, and Formerly Known as Princes #12-#18.

Streamers: Zonkers Natural. Trevor’s Sculpin, Sheila Sculpin, McCune’s Sculpin. Delektable Screamer Single or Double in White, Olive, Olive/Black, Badger. Dungeon’s in Olive and Black.

July 25th – July 31st | Madison River Fishing Report

Another week of Summer has come and gone in the Madison Valley. We’ve received a bit of much needed rain at times. The fire situation up around Cliff and Wade has improved and the heavy layer of smoke we’ve been living and fishing in since the beginning of July has lifted some. Improving the air quality and visibility. Hoot Owl restrictions are still in place and will be so until conditions improve enough for Montana FWP to lift them. For any of you that are new to Hoot Owl restrictions this means no fishing between 2:00 PM and 11:59 PM. Please access the Montana FWP link below for a list of all the Hoot Owl restrictions in effect statewide.

https://fwp.mt.gov/new/current-closures-restrictions.

Flows and fishing remain solid here on the Upper Madison. The Streamer game is definitely on in the early morning hours. With trout chasing well from before light to mid morning when that sun begins to hit the water. If you can catch a day with some cloud cover or when the smoke creates a false cover it has been good with the bunny fur all day. We’ve also had great reports from the Upper River with many anglers having success stripping smaller Black Buggers, Bunny Leeches, and Mohair Leeches.
We’ve seen the Mayfly and Caddis hatches begin to slow down over the last week. With the Nocturnals, Ants, Beetles, and Hoppers beginning to be more of the prime game. If it’s slower on the dries definitely go to the dry dropper rig. The Hopper bite is still building and will only improve throughout August and into September.
Nymphing is the most consistent fishing at the moment. With flows bumped back up to around 1500cfs at the Kirby guage, the Wire Worm has been effective on some recent days. Prince variations, Lightning Bugs, Perdigons, Olive and Coffee Pat’s, and Delektable Lil’ Spankers.

It can be a bit crowded at the ramps right now with the restrictions in place and everyone getting early starts. Remember to be courteous and patient out there. Play your fish as quick as possible. Keep them as wet as possible and take that extra moment to revive them before your release. Current conditions give you the opportunity for some unique and fun new ways for photos. With most cell phones and cameras having some waterproof features now. You can get some amazing shots at or under water level. Please call us or stop by with any questions you may have about your fishing needs. Stay safe out there everyone.

Dries: Morrish Hopper in Tan and Pink #12-#14. Thunder Thighs Hopper in Tan, Pink, Yellow #10-#14. Half Down Hopper #12-#14. More or Less Hopper Tan, Peach, #12-#14. Delektable Chubbyness UV Purple, Royal, UV Cinnamon, Root Beer #10 – #14. Delektable Lil’ Chubby Royal, Root Beer, UV Cinnamon, UV Tan #14 – #18. Para Adams #10 -#16. Carlson’s Purple Craze #14-#16. Royal Wulff #12 – #16. Royal Wullf Cripple #14 -#18. PMD Sparkle Dun #16. Delektable Sparkle Bug Tan, Pale Olive #14 – #16. Delektable PMD Teaser #14 – #16. Delektable CDC Elk Hair Caddis Tan #14-#18. Delektable Halo Caddis #14 – #16 Tan, Royal, Peacock. Delektable Lil’ Secret Royal, Goldrush, UV Caddis Green. Micro Water Walkers Peanut, Pink, September Stone #14-#16.

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback #8 -#10. Pat’s Rubberlegs Olive/Black, Brown/Black #8-#10. Formerly Known as Prince #16-#18. Psycho Prince Yellow and Purple #14 – #16. Delektable Lil Spanker Silver, Gold, Pheasant Tail #14 – #18. Lightning Bugs Silver and Gold #12-#16. Delektable Tungsten Jig Spanker Silver, Pheasant Tail, Miller Time, #16-#18. Perdigons. Wire Worm #8. 

Streamers: Delektable Screamer Single or Double Olive, Olive/Black, Badger #6. Sparkle Minnows #6. Zonkers Copper, Silver #4-#6. Galloups Dungeon’s Standard and Mini Olive, Black, Cream. McCune’s Sculpin Tan and Olive #4 – #6. Black Bunny Leech #8 – #10. Black Buggers and Mohair Leeches #8-#12.

July 18th – July 24th | Madison River Fishing Report

It’s been an eventful week up in the Madison Valley. Hoot Owl restrictions went into place on July 21st for the entire Madison River. From the mouth to the Yellowstone National Park Boundary. So for those of you who may be unfamiliar with these rules since this has never happened on the Upper section. This means no fishing between 2PM and Midnight. Also Yellowstone National Park has decided to implement Hoot Owl restrictions on all rivers and streams within the National Park beginning at 2PM on July 24th. The one difference with the YNP restrictions is that there is no fishing from 2PM until sunrise rather than Midnight. Water quality is actually good. Flows are currently at 1500 cfs at the Kirby guage. Which is about 200 cfs above the median historical flow at this time of year. Water temps are topping out between 65 and 68 degrees everyday. With early morning to mid morning temps staying in the mid to high 50’s. But with so many rivers under restriction FWP doesn’t want to have a flood of guides and anglers flocking to the Madison if it were one of the few rivers left without restriction. See the below link to Montana FWP for a full list of closures and restrictions throughout the state. 

https://fwp.mt.gov/news/current-closures-restrictions

As for the fishing, it remains pretty good. Dries, nymphs, and streamers are fishing well throughout periods of the day. Attractor dries, Caddis, PMD’s, Sallies, Ants, Beetles, and Hoppers are all possibilities. The dry dropper rig is prime right now with a Chubby or Hopper up top with a smaller nymph trailing. Streamer fishing has been good early for the first few hours of the day. Dead drifting, on the swing, or on the strip. PMD spinner falls in the morning. With periods of surface activity to Caddis, PMD’s, and Terrestrials throughout mid day to the closure time at 2 pm. 

It’s important to remember to be patient, and courteous as we are all dealing with these restrictions together. Keep in mind the precious resource we have and to keep in mind we are all doing our part to protect it. The boat launches will be a little more crowded with the limited hours of fishing. Enjoy the company and companionship of our fellow anglers and like all things it will be back to normal soon. Be safe and and enjoy our beautiful outdoor opportunities. We have updated our store hours during the restrictions to 6AM to 5PM seven days a week. 

Dries: Delektable Chubbyness #14-#16 Rootbeer, Royal, UV Purple, Goldrush. Delektable Lil’ Chubby #14-#16 Royal, Goldrush, Tan. Delektable Twisted X #16 Yellow/Red. Delektable Elk Hair CDC Caddis #14-#16 Tan. Delektable Halo #16 Tan, Royal. Delektable Lil’ Secret #12 Royal, Delektable Lil’ Secret #14-#16 UV Caddis Green, UV Goldrush. Micro Water Walkers #14-#16 Pink, Peanut. Morrish Hopper #12-#14 Tan, Pink. Thunder Thighs Hopper #10 Pink, Yellow. More or Less Hopper #10 Peach, Pink, Goldenrod. Delektable Flying Ant #14-#16 Purple, Black, Red, Red/Black, Cinnamon. 

 

 

 

 

 

Nymphs: Prince and Prince Variants #12-#16. Lemon Drops #14-#16. Psycho Prince #14-#16 Yellow, Purple. Delektable Lil’ Spanker #14-#16 Silver, Gold, Blue, Red. Delektable Hammerhead #14-#16 Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tail. Lightning Bugs #14-#16 Silver, Gold. Pat’s Rubberlegs #8-#10 Olive/Black, Brown/Black. Delektable Root Beer Float #16 PMD. Delektable Tungsten Jighead Spanker #16 Miller Time. Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear #14-#16. Split Back PMD #14-#16. 

Streamers: Delektable Screamers Single and Double in Olive/Black, White. Mini Dungeons. McCune’s Sculpin Tan, Olive. Zonkers Copper, Silver. Sparkle Minnows single and articulated. Sculpzilla’s Black, Olive.