Rod Building Archives - Beartooth Flyfishing

August 14th-20th|Madison River Fishing Report

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.

The best streamer fishing is still early in the morning with small sculpin patterns. We’ve seen fish eat Bow River Buggers in black or olive, Zonkers, Mini Loops and sparkle minnows. Slow strips and dead drifts should do the trick.

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!

July 10th-16th|Madison River Fishing Report

The Upper Madison is flowing at 1180 c.f.s. below Hebgen and 1490 c.f.s. at Kirby Ranch and fishing well throughout. We’re looking forward to the forecasted cooler nights combined with the intermittent precipitation we’ve had to keep the water temps down at a healthy level.

A few of our local rivers have “hoot owl” fishing restrictions, they are as follows: The Big Hole River from Saginaw bridge to the mouth of the North fork and from Notch Bottom to the confluence with the Beaverhead, The Lower Beaverhead River from Anderson Lane to the confluence with the Big Hole, The Lower Madison River from Ennis Dam to the mouth, The Lower Gallatin River from the confluence with the Madison to Sheds Bridge, The East Gallatin River from Spring Hill Rd Bridge to the confluence with the Gallatin and last but not least, The entire Jefferson River. These locations will be closed to fishing from 2 p.m. until midnight as long as water temps remain high.

The fish are fighting extremely hard so bring your a-game if you want to land them. Salmon flies and golden stoneflies are a thing of the past at this point but the Ants, Caddis and PMD’s are doing just fine at getting the fish’s attention.

Dry fly fishing is still best in the evening but we’ve also been sucking them up in the middle of the day on the #16 Bloom’s Stealth Ant. They’re still on the caddis in the evening as well as the spinners. To imitate those we’ve been using Delektable C.D.C. Elk Hair Caddis Tan #16 and the Goddard Caddis in size #16. For the mayflies it’s the Parachute Rusty Spinner or a Parachute Adams in either #14 or #16.

As always nymphing is the way to go in the middle of these bright and hot days we’ve been having. Some of our guys have been picking fish up on #10 olive brown Pat’s Rubberlegs but other than that they’ve been on the small bugs. #14 Princes, #16 Hare’s Ears, #16 gold Lightning Bugs and some #14 Shop Vacs and a variety of PMD or Yellowstone or Yellow Sally Nymphs should be plenty to get the job done any time of day.

Streamer fishing has been on the tough side, haven’t heard of much coming for the big stuff but we have had a few good reports on the small stuff. Swinging small sculpin patterns will probably be your best bet if you’re looking for a meat-eater. I’d recommend tan Zonkers, natural Sculpzillas or a Sheila’s Sculpin and get out there early while water temps are low.

Lastly, don’t forget to come by the shop next weekend for our fundraiser for the Montana Hope Project. Great food, good people, fly tying and casting clinics all for an amazing cause. That’s Saturday the 29^th and Sunday the 30^th. Dan’s going to be making elk chili and Marty will have his famous Cajun Gumbo as well as some fantastic deserts from the Country Bumpkin Bakery and Elle’s Belles. All proceeds will go straight to the foundation in addition to a percentage of all retail in the shop. We hope to see you there!

Brian, Kevin, and the Delektable Crew

June 26th – July 2nd|Madison River Fishing Report

Well, the big bug bite is on!! Salmon flies have made their way up to and past the shop here and the cooler temps have been slowing them down for us all to enjoy a little longer. Evening caddis hatches have also been KILLER, we definitely recommend an early dinner and getting right back out on the water to experience it. Also expect to see PMD’s, Yellow Sallies, Golden Stoneflies and a few Drake’s out there.

Dry fly fishing has continued keep a smile on everyone’s faces throughout the river. Whether its caddis, mayflies or the salmons and golden stones the fish have been looking up. We recommend having some Delektable Peacock Halo’s in a #16, Olive Delektable C.D.C. Elk Hair Caddis in either a #14 or #16 and earlier in the day it’ll be nice to have a Smoke Jumper PMD emerger or two on a #16 hook. As for the big foamy stuff we’ve been fishing the Delektable Secret Salmon (#6 or #8) and Secret Golden Stone (#10 and #12). They’ve also been liking a small (#14 and #16) Delektable Chubbyness off the back of those big dries as well, either purple or royal for the color.

Streamer fishing has continued to be put on the back burner due to the all you can eat insect buffet out there. If you’re one of those people that can’t help but to strip the meaty stuff off the banks I’d recommend starting small, something like a Sheila’s Sculpin or a Delektable Single Screamer in white or badger.

Nymphing has been good as well with all the bugs being so active. The One Man Party and the Shop Vac are doing great for the caddis, sizes #14 and #16 for both. As for the mayfly nymphs we’ve been having good results on Purple Psycho Prince’s, Delektable Pheasant Tail Lil’ Spanker’s in #16, and Red Thread Prince Nymphs in either a #14 or #16.

As always call or stop by the shop for an up to the minute report and HAVE FUN out there!!!

May 9th -13th|Madison River Fishing Report

We hosted a group of Project Healing Waters Vets this week, what a treat to meet these good men who need to get out and fish and spend time in Montana. Our neighbor Mike was gracious enough to be our cook for the week. Thanks Mike. We have been serving up some pretty awesome meals for breakfast and at night with fishing during the days. Dan provided tying clinics in the evenings.

To help the boys get into fish we have been doing a variety of experiences with floats down the river and wading most of the float. Also, we took them on the wade only sections as the river got more off color. The West Fork started kicking in the dirt and for the past four days we have had a split river between the West Fork and Sun West Bridge then dirtier water below to Ennis. The bugs remain the same as we have listed, we just got more creative with the technique. Wading this week has been much more productive than float casting. With wading, you can focus on a bucket or under a bank and find a place where they will eat. Floating is tougher because you have no time to spend on the spot while the water flow is faster. You can see by the pictures there were fish to be caught. We appreciate the help of the guides Bob Frey, Marty, Ian, and Dan. We really enjoyed the company here at the lodge and hope to host the Vets annually. We have done this now for a few years.

A small group of the guys went on a tour of Yellowstone Park and they had a great time seeing lots of wildlife including: Elk, Bison, a Grizzly and her cubs (from a distance with binoculars), Moose, and Big Horn Sheep. They got it all in a short visit.

Today the current CFS jumped up to 2,620, the water out back got dirtier and is dirtier as you get closer to town. This is a time we want to caution folks in boats as getting under and through the Sun West Bridge and the Wolf Creek Bridge is tough, maybe impossible. You will need to walk the boat under the left (West) side if unsure and rafts may have a challenge fitting underneath either bridge at this CFS. The water is flowing pretty fast so wading is also more challenging. Bring your wading staff for help.

So our guests got the best of it this week and it’s a good day for traveling. Thanks to all who helped us take care of a great group of guests.

The Delektable Crew