The big bugs have taken over. If you were here this week, you would have no doubt seen the Salmon flies and the Golden Stones that are out. They are still out and about making the whole river a bug manifesto!!! The fish have been doing trout things such as, not eating when the people are out, eating bugs until they are too gorged from eating real bugs to even eat YOUR fly, and eating small stuff when you want them to eat the big bugs. Well, that’s Salmon fly season my friends. But if you were lucky enough to get in on the action before they got too smart to eat your fly, you may have gotten lucky this week!
There are so many different choices of flies for the fish to be eating right now. The Salmon Fly, the Golden Stone, the PMD, the many different Caddis, the Callibaetis, the Yellow Sally and yes, even the little midges are out and about on the river and lakes this week. That is a lot of choices, so arm up and equip yourselves for battle. Just when you think that brown or shamebow is going to give it up to the Salmon Fly, it doesn’t. It may want just a little Caddis, or a PMD…. or nothing at all because it is full. We all love throwing the big bugs, but if they aren’t eating it, they just are not going to eat it, so don’t get discouraged, they will eat it tomorrow. Because of the big bug hatch, there are more than average people about, during this time try going out a little earlier or a little later in the evening. Either way, the fish will eventually eat. Try variety in your schedule to experiment with the timing of the bite and the people.
Anyways, the trout will be trout and you can’t help but be you, so come on in the shop and get those big bugs you need. The flies I am going to recommend this week are flies that we at the shop have used, the guides have used, and your mom has used…. along with the combination of intel from others that have come in the shop. Everyone has their favorite Salmon Fly, so I will not elaborate on the patterns too much there.
Dries:
- Salmon Flies
Dornan’s Water Walker size 6 and 8 in the red
Delektable Secret Stone Salmon Fly UV Orange size 6 and 8
The Stimulator size 6 and 8
Sofa Pillows size 6 and 8
Delektable Secret Stone Royal size 6 and 8
Delektable Mega Chubbyness in Salmon fly colors size 6, 8 and 10
- Golden Stones
Dornan’s Water Walker size 10 and 12
Delektable Secret Stone Golden size 10 and 12
The Stimulator size 10 and 12
Delektable Chubbyness in the Golden Stone colors size 8, 10 and 12
Dornan’s Peanut Walker Golden size 10 and 12
- PMD size 16
Purple Haze
Adams
Light Cahill
Quigley’s PMD Cripple
- Caddis
Delektable CDC Caddis in corresponding sizes
Elk Hair Caddis
Lil’ Hottie size 14 and 16
Half down size 14 and 16
Bloom’s Caddis Amber size 14 and 16
- Yellow Sally
Delektable Chubbyness Olive Brown size 14 and 16
Delektable Chubbyness Royal size 14 and 16
Half Down Amber size 12 and 14
through your Spring into Summer, swinging in and saying hello here and there. Please keep coming in and saying hello!!! Hopefully we can even send you in the right direction to lock in that fish that’s been haunting you in your dreams. …We all have that one…
experienced the Solar Eclipse on the river and Kevin provided shots from Idaho. We had a mixture of fun fishing experiences including us and many friends and new friends. We had special surprise guests for Dan’s 60th birthday. And…we shared an incredible birthday cake Elle made totally in honor of Dan and “Scar Tissue”. It was quite the week of incredible experiences, fun fishing, great reunions, fabulous cake and terrific food too. Life at Beartooth can be so much fun. Thank you for sharing.
hasn’t changed too much throughout the month of August. The biggest change we’ve seen over the past week is that bigger fish are eating a little more readily, let’s hope that lasts. Flows are up slightly from last week below the dam to 1,040 c.f.s. and 1,190 c.f.s. at Kirby Ranch. 
good even though sometimes we end up with a totally Tyke bite for a day then bigger fish the next day. Big swarms of flying ants can be seen from Storey Ditch down past Varney Bridge later in the afternoon but they’ll eat them almost all day. The Delektable flying ant in Purple or Cinnamon has consistently been our best pattern. Quigley’s glitter ant and the smaller Yeager’s 409’s in red are doing the trick as well. Early in the day a small Adams or Purple Craze has brought success while pseudos are about and hoppers are still producing as well. For those, the cast and location is important. The Delektable Chubbyness in #14’s and #16’s is still a good pattern with best results in UV Purple, UV Cinnamon, and Royal this week. Hoppers in pink, yellow, and cream underneath are still working.
small princes, small Delektable pheasant tail Lil’ Spankers, tan/brown or olive/brown Rubberlegs, bigger Delektable Hammerheads, Hare’s Ears and Delektable Big Spanker Warriors. Lightning Bugs in Silver and Pearl are still good. These flies have all been pretty good all day but best During the late morning and early afternoon.
continue to improve. We’ve seen some good action into the hottest part of the day the last couple days. Some of our best bugs are the Delektable Single Screamer in white, the Sculpzilla in White or Tan, Mini Loops, Silvey’s sculpin leech and the Conehead Bow River Bugger. Using a sinking leader has helped with Slow strips and dead drifts around the boulders. You could even add a trailing small nymph from the list above. The smoke remains in the mountains and less so on the river.
Well it’s late August, we’re flowing at about 1,000 c.f.s. below Hebgen and 1150 at Kirby. Fishing has been without much change over the past couple weeks with most fish being caught on terrestrial dries or nymphs. The forecast is calling for more warm and bright days coming up which is just fine to keep the hopper bite going.
We’ve experienced some good pseudo action hatches in the mornings and in the evenings of the same. Starting the day with a #18 or #20 parachute adams or purple craze would not be a bad idea. As it gets warmer later in the morning I’d recommend going back to the ants and hoppers. The purple Delektable Flying Ant, Dave’s Hopper, the White Cloud Hopper, Quigley’s Glitter Ant, Delektable Slammers and Fat Alberts have all been bringing fish up. There are still Spruce Moths in the early part of the day in the upper so think about trying variations of that including: Delektable Twisted Baby, Sister, or X in Tan Brown or try purple for whatever reason it is okay, purple is always a special trick color.
Our guides are catching fish on nymphs pretty consistently. Some of the top flies have been Pat’s Rubberlegs in olive/brown, Delektable pheasant tail Lil’ Spankers, Delektable prince Hammerheads, Wire Worms, Prince Nymphs and Rainbow Warriors. Any two of those under a bobber or under a streamer should produce something for you at any time of day.
Stop in the shop or give us a call for any more info you may need on how to have the best experience possible on the Upper Madison or any of our nearby waters. Enjoy the rest of the Summer!
Thanks to everyone who
came out to the shop to support the children for our Montana Hope Project fundraiser, we had a very successful turn out and donations are still rolling in already exceeding last year’s totals! It was incredible to see so many of our friends come together for such a great cause. And the food was great! Also, thanks to Elle from Elles Belles for providing some incredible desserts. Yumm!
As we transition into August the fishing is 
doing exactly what you’d expect with terrestrials really starting to come into play. Fish are showing a serious interest in flies like the red Delektable Flying Ant, Yeager’s 409, Grillo’s royal Hippie Stomper and the Hi-Vis Foam Beetle. There are still some PMDs kickin’ around up river as well, fishing the spinners in the evening has produced some quality fish. Spruce Moths have also been picking up fish in the shape of Delektable Twisted X tan/brown or bigger tan Elk Hairs.
the Madison, bead heads work. Some of our most productive flies have been the Delektable C.D.C. Baby, flashback Hare’s Ears, Prince’s, Delektable Silver Lil’ Spankers, Lightning Bugs and smaller Olive/Brown Pat’s Rubberlegs. The tail end of the ten day forecast looks like it’s going to be cooling off a bit with highs in the upper 70’s and lower 80’s which will be a pleasant change of pace.
overall but is still best during the cooler starts and ends of the day with dead drifting being the way to go during the afternoon. My best pattern is still the Olive/Black Delektable Screamer but Mini Loops, Trevor’s Sculpins and McCune’s are getting the job done as well.
