Madison River Fly Fishing Report 5/9/2016
Montana
Upper Madison
For the Upper, there are two distinct sections; above the West Fork, and below. Rain and warm afternoons continued to muddy up the West Fork, in turn muddying up the West side of the main river. The "clean" side below the West Fork is fishing good, the fish are right on the banks.
Floating Pine Butte-Windy on 5/7 we saw midges, baetis, and a few dozen March Browns were hanging around. Fish were selectively rising, this early in the year you're better off wading and stalking vs. fast floating and covering a lot of water, if you're just looking to fish on top.
Above the West Fork, the whole river is an off-color green that supports great nymph fishing. Fish are still actively spawning, keep your eyes open and fish other water. Quake is starting get a little more on brown side due to Cabin and Beaver Creeks, expect the river below to reflect this soon.
For dries, stop by or spin up a few #18 Tan Midge Caddis, #16-18 Klinkhammer, #18 VisADun Baetis, and the #14 MRO March Brown. Always keep a few #16-20 Purple Parachutes (flat purple, not ice) in your box as well.
For dead-drifting and Euro tactics, our current favorites are the #16 Tung. Frenchie, #18 Tung. Rainbow Warrior, #12 Tung. Hare's Ear, #14 Lake Prince, and the #16 Driscoll Lightning Bug.
Upper Gallatin
Blown out for the time being. If you're itching to get a few fish from the Gal', find the quietest pocket water you can near the banks and drift a #10 Sili Leg with one of the following below; #14 Psycho Prince, Pink San Juan, #12 Hare's Ear.
Hebgen Lake
Current stats:
Pool Elevation is 6529.5 Feet
Pool Elevation to Fill 5.4 Feet
Reservoir Storage is 320259. Acre-Feet
Reservoir Storage to Fill 65921.7 Acre-Feet
Reservoir Inflow is 1553.9 CFS
Reservoir Outflow is 813.5 CFS
Reservoir is 82.9 % Full*
Reservoir Flood Control Pool is filled 0.0 %
Madison River Flow is 813.5 CFS
Hebgen is on the rise and we're hoping for a wet spring moving forward to top it off. Fishing has been pretty fun, folks have been finding success on top, nymphing, and stripping buggers/leeches. If just looking for fish, nymphing a #14 Red Flash Chironomid will get the job done. If you happen to stumble across a wind-free afternoon, keep your eyes open for the risers. A #18 Purple Parachute and #20 Zebra Midge dropper has been reliable. For all the guys looking to strip and twitch, #6 Rusty Squirrel leech and #8 Flash-A-Bugger will find a few, stay on move if you're fishing is slow!
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Jake Schilling
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