MRO MT Fly Fishing Report
Montana
Upper Madison
Weather outlook for the week is good, next few days are sunny and in the 60's before we get back to spring fishing weather (low, dark, and wet) later in the week. Before the sun came out on Friday, we had some excellent opportunities fishing baetis and to the remaining midges. Unless you have a spot lined up where you know they'll be rising, it's important to cover a lot of water, they're eating on top if you look hard enough. Top dry patterns this week were the #20 Purple Parachute, #18 Baetis Parachute, #18 Stillborn Midge, #16-20 Griffiths Gnat, and #18 CDC Comparadun. Keep an eye out for bigger bugs down by Ennis.
Nymphing is still the headliner, cold nighttime temps held back a lot of melting snowpack. The Madison will stay slightly off-color for the next month or so, the nymphing will only improve. Flies haven't changed too much, still fishing stones and caddis larva more than anything else. Our favorites this past week were the #12 Brown Biot Stone, #14 Ram Caddis, #14 Lake Prince, #16 Caddis Rockworm, and have a few smaller baetis/mayfly patterns like the #16 Black Lightning Bug and #16 PT Flashback.
Streamer fishing was great with low, dark weather we had this past week. Expect it to be a little slower on bright days once the sun is up and out. Some great Browns hanging near the banks and island cut-banks, make sure to land your pattern as close as you can to the bank!
Please do your best to avoid spawning fish and redds. There are a lot spawning rainbows throughout the Madison right now, keep your eyes open!
Upper Gallatin
Still some mud coming out of the Taylor Fork, but the Gallatin isn't looking too bad overall. The river has been dropping for a week straight, from over 1,500cfs to 832cfs as of 5:00 on 5/1. Keep fishing your bigger stone patterns (#8 Sili Stone) and spring standards like #14 Lake Prince, #6 Flash-A-Bugger, #10 MT Prince, and #12 Hare's Ear Flashback.
Hebgen Lake
Well, the ice sure melted off fast! Pretty much completely gone besides right near the Dam. Slow-stripping buggers is still working well, but the fun part now is getting shots at rising fish once the day warms up. Waders and/or a small inflatable boat is a good idea as they always seem Just out of reach. For topwater, it's hard to beat a #18-20 Purple Parachute with a #18-20 Zebra Midge dropped off the back.
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Jake Schilling
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