Tag: Rainbow Fish

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.