Montana fly fishing guides Archives - Page 13 of 13

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.

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 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

September 20, 2016 | Missouri River Fishing Report

Dan Delekta, Bernie Sundell and Mike Mach went to the Missouri river this past week and it was good for them. They caught rainbows, browns, carp and walley. Long days on the river with your buddies in the Clacka is the best way to spend the fall out here. Articulated streamers in white, black and black and olive were the hottest flies of the day. Dan’s Delektable Double Screamers in white were the best while black and back and olive were good towards the end of the day.

the Delektable Chubbyness and other dries were working in the film in the back-eddies, but you know how ya get when the fall comes around…force feeding of the streamer! The weather was perfect for banging walley too. They hit streamers hard and would keep you occupied if you were not catching trout. The limit for walley is 4 each, so they came back with some white meat that Captain Marty deep-fried in his special Cajun ways that tasted soooo good (just take my word for it). As for the carp, Mike caught that on a white Delektable Double Screamer (I know, wierd)

So, heres to fishing and drinkin with buddies on your day off!

Happy Fishing!!! -DanG and Danny D

September 7th-12th, 2016|Madison River Fishing Report

It’s early morning and nice weather is in the forecast for Bill later today. The “W” is almost nonexistent. He gets out of his truck all bundled up head to toe in his newly purchased gear. The cold crisp fog is rising from the upper Madison River in what seems to be slow motion. He takes a look around and sees an eagle barely visible through the fog flying majestically, looking for an easy target to scoop up for breakfast. Bill is fully equipped and ready for action. He starts walking toward the river from his rig. He immediately spooks a brown right off the bank. He smiles. Bill has been waiting for this all year….the fall run. The leaves are turning yellow quickly and the valley is changing in color day by day. Bill is in his element. He is free, the air is clean and he is alone. This moment is all about him in his favorite Montana surroundings. His soul needs this……it craves it. 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.

The cold weather snap here in Southwest Montana has given the trout a little indication that it is time. It is time to get serious about fattening up, and time to get serious about getting serious in a fishy relationship. It is spawning season soon and the bite is on!! I hope you all will take advantage of these ferocious browns with their vicious takes on the streamer!

We are seeing some nice fish enter and exit the boat safely taken on single hooked streamers, articulated streamers and well, you get it. It’s on!

Well, it’s not just streamers that are working. There is also still quite an extensive list of “normal” flies that will be working. Let’s start with the stone flies that are moving around with the colder temps. Pats Rubber Legs in a size 8-12 are working just fine for those little guys. Colors that are strong ones will be brown, black, brown/olive and black/olive (for the Nocturnals still), black/brown and orange/tan. A red headed prince with a tungsten bead on a size 14-16 hook in combination with any of those stones would be good. Small princes, small pheasant tails and small serendipities (size 18-20 on curved hook) have been working lately. Baetis…start looking for ‘em and start throwin ‘em. A wire worm size 8. Delektable Lil’ Spankers in silver, red and pheasant tail have been good. Lightning bugs silver, pearl and purple are working just fine. We have also had some good reports on the little red copper john size 20. That could be for the pseudo mayflies we have had lately, but trout just love the little red copper john….always. There is a 14-16 gray caddis that has been flying around and we have been using the Delektable Rose/Pink Twisted Sister dry size 16 for that lil’ guy. One might want to try that one in the brown color too. It could be time for the Delektable Mega Prince and relatives.

As for the weather and the bite during the day, it has been real good in the early morning, a little slower by mid-day, and then it has been picking up a little bit more later in the afternoon.

Back to streamer talk now. Early mornings have been borderline epic on the strip. As for colors, white is right. Olive articulated streamers have been reeeally good along with black here and there. There has been some good nipping going on without the full commitment, but have no fear, it will happen. Personally I would rather strip a streamer than dunk it under a bobber, but dunk’n stinger-hooked streamers with a nymph trailing has been a killer combo for numbers in the boat. They may look at the 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” 🙂

Happy Fishing!!! -DanG

August 28-September 4, 2016 | Madison River Report

Change is good; especially when it comes in the form of an early fall front bringing chilly temps, welcome and needed rain, and snow on the mountain peaks. The change in the air also means fall fishing (streamers!) is just around the corner.

The transition into fall continued last week, with change also being the theme. Fish were/are being caught, including some true trophies, but during the transitional season, change means being willing to get out of one’s comfort zone, and try different, sometimes multiple patterns. What worked one day often didn’t work the next. So to catch fish, change was very good.

Fly selection the last week has been quite varied, with catches coming on dries, nymphs and streamers. On the dry side, the Delektable Chubbyness, in all colors, has continued to be the go-to fly of the season, with other winning selections including Delektable Teasers, Purple Haze and still some hopper and ant action.

Most of the normal players have worked on the nymph side; Girdle Bugs, Lightning Bugs, Delektable Spankers, along with various Pseudo and BWO patterns. And, of course, worm patterns have been the ticket some days.

Delektable Double Screamers, Zonkers, wooly buggers and other streamer patterns have worked, mostly in white, black or olive/black. If you are doing poorly catching or moving fish on the streamer, then try changing up the color. If that doesn’t yield any results, then try changing up the silhouette also. Treat it the same as switching up your nymphs or dries. Fear not, for they will eat the streamer! Try all the little bank undercuts and log jams in the shallows along with the deep runs in the middle of the river in the middle of the day.

Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for more epic weather brought to you by the great state of Montana and the letter F! (for fly-fishing of course 🙂 ) Happy Fishing!!!

-DanG and Marty

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 11-18, 2015 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Time for another weekly Upper Madison River fishing report. I’ve been out of the fly shop chasing largemouth bass in Georgia so I added a few shots from there. From what I’ve been told, the temperate fall fishing season keeps going and going and going…

Temperatures in the 70s in the middle of October are keeping this valley busy and lots of people are getting out to throw big streamers at some aggressive trout. The scuplin patterns were also working well in the black and olive colors. The blue winged olives were coming off throughout the week and continue to do so. You can expect that to improve as the month progresses, especially on the overcast days.

In shop news, Dan Greene has made his annual pilgrimage to southern Oregon in search of steelhead. We haven’t heard much from him and don’t expect to really. He has become one with the river, fish and green trees. Rumor has it he wrangled a toad brown trout before he left. That image has yet to surface though so it’s only hearsay at this point. But, here is the lone bit of communication we have had with him shared via Instagram. @nutcaseskier. Albeit blurry, it looks like he’s doing just fine.

Also, as a reminder, we have rental gear on sale right now for 60-70% off. All of our boots and waders are in good condition. Some of our Dan Bailey’s waders and Simms boots are in nearly new condition. We have a wide range of sizes still available. Get them while they last.

-Parker Redmond