Madison River Outfitters

Entry by Mike Loebl

This time of the season, dry fly fishing in the streams and creeks surrounding West Yellowstone is at its peak.  July and August are dry fly months as there is a tremendous amount of food available to the trout, both aquatic insects and terrestrials.  While we do have a lot of match the hatch fishing or trout feeding consistently on the surface to landborn insects, a lot of our best dry fly fishing is attractor fishing.  Using a dry fly to cover likely water is an extremely effective way to fish our rivers, but it requires a bit different approach and fly selection than casting at rising fish.

Attractor dry fly fishing is very effective in this area for a number of reasons.  First off, most of the rivers we fish in Yellowstone and Montana are simply not very deep.  Trout don’t have to charge out of the depths to eat a fly on the surface.  In fact, many large fish can be found in under a foot of water if not disturbed by anglers.  The second reason that dry fly fishing can be a deadly method for probing the water is that many different types of trout holding water can be fished well with dries.  Nymphs tend to hang up in shallow pools, get stuck in weeds, and snag logs and rocks that our trout use for cover.  Dries just drift by or over this structure.  This allows a dry fly fisher to fish water that others simply don’t want to bother fishing. Dries also make the least amount of disturbance when they enter the water and don’t spook fish when they land. Lastly, dry flies work great because many anglers simply won’t fish the surface unless they see fish rising, so trout get bombarded by nymphs in many places.  

By following a few simple ideas, one can increase the number of fish that will be brought to the surface.  First off is fly selection.  Picking the “right” fly, or the only one that trout will eat is seldom a consideration.  However it is a good idea to loosely match the size and color of the insects that fish are most likely to see. Fishing a fly that is visible at all times is also crucial.  If you can’t follow the drift of the fly to see subtle rises, the chance of success in hooking any trout that rise decreases greatly.  At times, going to large, white winged flies like Trudes or Wulffs is the only way to keep the flies in sight.  Don’t worry, one will hook and land more fish casting a size 10 Trude that is visible than a #16 Beetle that is not.  Seeing the fly is that important.  Parachutes and ParaWulffs,  Stimulators, Trudes, Wulffs and other hair wing dry flies are effective patterns because they offer realistic silhouettes to the fish, float well, and remain visible.  If fish aren’t rising to the fly you are fishing, by all means change it up.  Size and fly design do make a big difference.  Changing from a #14 Rusty Parachute from a #14 Parachute Adams probably isn’t going to make a big difference.  Tying on a #16 Royal Stimulator or Tan Elk Hair Caddis instead of the Adams can however make a drastic change in the success of the angler.  

Another crucial element to attractor dry fly fishing is getting a good drift.  We all know the importance of a good drag- free drift when fishing to a trout that is steadily rising.  When fishing the water, the same perfect dead drift is required.  Look at each line of drift you intend to fish, figure out where the flies, leader and fly line need to land in order to maximize the float of the fly and make the first cast count.  Fish become MUCH less willing to rise after a fly has drug or skated over them.  This is especially true on heavily fished rivers like the Madison, but applies everywhere by late in the summer.  

Don’t try to fish all the water with the same angle and presentation.  Most slow water on the river’s edges can be fished with an upstream cast.  A reach cast that places the fly line into slower water than the fly lands in is helpful in achieving a nice long float.  A rock slick fished in the same manner only results in nearly instant drag as the fast water at the bottom of the slick quickly pulls the fly line, yanking any slack in the leader and pulling the fly downstream.  A down and across cast where the fly lands downstream of the fly line is much preferred when fishing this type of structure. Casting over the bank and using rocks and logs to hold the fly line off the water can also be very helpful at times.  Be creative in how you fish each spot, you will learn a lot about drift and see better results.

Covering as much water as possible is the key to raising numbers of fish.  Most trout cannot be induced to rise by casting over them repeatedly.  They will eat the first good drift they see or not eat at all.  That is good news to the angler, as he or she can make a good drift or two over a spot or feeding lane and move on.  The beauty of  attractor fishing is that it allows an angler to cover so much water.  Keep the casts short and controlled, maximize each float and rapidly fish every likely spot.  Keep moving!  By fishing in this manner the angler is constantly putting the fly over fresh fish that are unaware of his presence and have yet to see a sloppy drift.  If a spot proves too hard to properly drift the fly after a few attempts, just move on.

Next time you are on the river, try fishing an attractor.  Fish a visible fly, get good drifts, cover a lot of water and see what happens.  You may be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Entry by Ty Holloway

Spring stillwater fishing is a practice of mine that receives little respect or glory. It is hard to walk into the shop and discuss how many u.b.d.’s (unidentified bobber downs), or how many minutes dragged on in between each successfully landed fish. Stillwaters do have their rewards however… Solitude, beautiful scenery, and the opportunity for some truly freakishly sized fish. 

Bobber fishing with chironomids isn’t for everyone however, staring long enough at a floating orange thing, then gazing off into the tree lined shore and then realizing you are experiencing mild vertigo. It is not technical, nor does it require any sort of casting prowess. You are just as likely to hook a fish by dangling your bugs just off the side of the boat as you are to bomb an 80 foot cast off into the abyss. All that is needed to be a successful chironomid fisherman is patience, and maybe a six pack. I will warn you, the surest way of getting a take is to look away for a split second to grab a cold one.

We are in an area that is blessed with great lakes that are perfectly suited to fly fishing, all of which are often over looked due their more famous moving water counterparts. Which is perfectly fine with me. Hebgen, Cliff, Wade, Island Park, Henry’s, Quake, and Ennis lake all offer world class stillwater fishing. All also have an abundance of chironomid hatches which occur just after ice out until the end of spring. 

That’s all that needs to be said about bobber fishing, or maybe that’s all that can be said. Either way, I encourage you to stray from the flowing water and dabble with this lake fishing thing. You won’t be disappointed, or maybe you will.

Entry by Mike Loebl

In part one, we took a look at how to stay warm when fishing in cold weather.  In this post, we’ll look at how to find fish in the rivers during the chilly times of the year.

Winter flows tend to be low compared to other times of the year and the water is always cold.  These two things both conspire to concentrate trout.  This creates a challenge for anglers, as much of the river will be virtually empty of fish.  At the same time, it can be a boon, as once fish are found oftentimes many can be hooked.  

Most of our trout fishing in the cold weather months is with nymphs, so we’ll look at the rivers with regard to finding good water to effectively fish nymphs in. This isn’t the same water you would necessarily fish if you wanted to find fish feeding on midges, or if you were intent on catching fish on streamers.

Trout do not like to fight heavy currents in cold water so finding current breaks and slow water is the first key to finding fish.  The second key to finding fish, or at least fish that can be caught with a fly, is finding water with either enough depth or surface disturbance to allow an angler to get close enough to the fish to get a good drift.  If you can see every pebble in the bottom of the river, chances are good that you have already spooked the trout that had been lying there.  If a pocket or run has a hint of color when you look into the water, chance are good that you can fish it effectively without disturbing the fish.

With these two factors, it is possible to eliminate a tremendous amount of river. Combine slow water and some depth or surface disturbance so the trout feel safe and suddenly one only has to fish a small percentage of the river.  Ignore everything else and focus all of your fishing on this water.  The odds are now tipped in your favor.

In addition to slow water and some overhead cover, trout really like structure.  Often structure itself is what creates the slow water or cover, but that isn’t always the case.  A long deep pool may have a lot of water that could harbor trout, but expect to find the most fish where there is structure. This can take the form of  the drop off at the head of the pool, deep slots in the gut of the pool, or in front or behind rocks any where in the pool.  These places are where  one can expect the most fish to be in the pool itself. 

Drop offs are some of the most overlooked places in the river.  The drop itself creates a pocket of slower water that the fish like and turbulence from the shallow water above the drop off creates good cover.  Drop offs don’t have to be huge to hold fish.  A change in depth of less than a foot can be enough to create an attractive home for a trout.  Small drop offs in shallow water often hold fish and these fish seldom see much attention from anglers.

Rocks are natural fish holders.  While everyone knows that the slicks behind rocks are reliable spots, don’t ignore the soft water in front of rocks and along their sides. Most large rocks will have depressions on each side of them where the current flowing around the rock has dug out the river bottom.  If the current is slow enough, these spots can hold a lot of fish as they are essentially drop offs.

Gravel bars are also great fish holders, mostly for the drop offs and soft water that one finds in their wake.  Whether they are deeply submerged or breaking the surface, Trout will be found behind them.

Any combination of structure is usually more attractive to trout than a single piece of structure on its own.  Another good rule of thumb is that the larger the structure, the more likely that it will concentrate fish.  Small rock slicks my house a fish or two and big pools formed by a wide gravel bar dropping off into slow deep water may have hundreds of trout in them.

Next time you step into a river in winter, take the time to look at the water and start eliminating unlikely spots based on current speed, depth and structure.  Take a look at what is left and fish it hard.  You are sure to find some fish.

Entry by Mike Loebl

I just made my first entry in my brand new 2009 fishing log. My log for 08 did the trick and I’ve decided to keep on writing down info for each day on the water.  Never before last year had I kept track of my fishing, but I wanted a better idea of the number of days I fished and I also knew that my memory for each day of fishing has been on a steady decline after several seasons out here and countless Olympia beers.  The log was simple, just a spreadsheet with the date, time of day, where I fished, what I fished for, fishing techniques used, who I was with and the notes for the day.  The notes for the day usually featured some butchered typing about the weather and the bite, maybe if I saw something out of the ordinary I’d jot a few lines about it.  Nothing was set in stone.  

The log worked for two reasons.  One was that it was simple for me to enter info for each day of fishing, thus I did it.  Every time.  Obviously a fishing log doesn’t make much sense unless you keep it up to date and I managed to do just that.  Secondly it worked because I enjoyed reading back through it and reflecting upon the days that I have spent on the water.  Entries such as this one from an exceptionally warm April day on the Gallatin spent with Wes Dow warm the heart a bit in the winter months.  ”Fished below Big sky, didn’t fish too much water as we railed on them.  Got cooked up to 71 in Bozeman, James met us after glassing.  Hell of a day.  Like it f***ing should be.”  Can’t beat that.  And thanks to my log, I won’t forget it.  I hope there are plenty of entries in 2009 with all the highs and lows from a complete season of fishing.

Entry by Mike Loebl

We haven’t posted for a little while so here is an update. Casey has headed back to Oregon to get a “real job” AKA swing flies for summer steelhead while unemployed. William ran up to the Missouri for a change of scenery and for the usual big trout sipping tiny Baetis in October. The crew has been pared down, and we’re all still getting out fishing. Even Brad dusted off his tackle and has been fishing the Park a bit.  He managed to catch the largest brown of the year by any of the shop staff.  Cold weather may dampen the enthusiasm a bit, but the 22 degree mornings are nothing compared to what is to come. I suppose that is why a pair of Simms Exstream waders just showed up with my name on them. No more frozen feet!

Fishing for lake runs is the mainstay of our fall fishing and something I get pretty excited about. This season is about halfway finished for the Madison in the Park and fishing has been pretty good.  This week brought the usual Columbus Day surge in angler numbers (along with snow, biting wind and cold) but overall it hasn’t been too tough to find water to fish.  Though I haven’t had any jaw dropping days swinging flies, I’m finding enough fish to keep myself entertained. I’ve only seen one awful lowholing so far.  Casey was hosed pretty badly on that one, but it hasn’t happened since and this helps making fishing fun. I’m not here for combat, its supposed to be relaxing!

Baetis hatches have been pretty consistent on the Firehole, though the cold yesterday seemed to slow things down. It has been the river where anglers very consistently come back from with good things to say.  Of course I’m too stupid to go fish for pods of rising trout that are greedily rising too mayflies and keep hitting the Madison. Thursday, wanting a little solitude I drove down to the Madison below Quake. Around the West Fork there weren’t any cars parked, so Domino and I decided to give it a whirl. The howling wind kept the bite pretty slow for a bit, but in the afternoon the temps climbed into the 40’s, a few clouds moved in and both Baetis and Midges started to Pop. I found two pods of surface feeding fish, but kept plugging away with the nymphs and managed to stick some decent fish. It was a good change of pace from swinging flies. Dom didn’t think much of my fishing, as he kept reminding me that bird season is also here, but he enjoyed the day on the water.

We’ll keep at the fishing in the Park until the season closes after the first weekend in November. Good luck to all, enjoy the best part of the fall.