July 17th Fishing Report - Madison River Outfitters
Montana
Flows/Temperatures
Hebgen Outflow - 1,106 CFS
Kirby - 1,300 CFS
Kirby High/Low Temps - 65°/58° F
Cameron - 1,430 CFS
Cameron High/Low Temps - 68°/61° F
Hebgen Outflow - 1,106 CFS
Kirby - 1,300 CFS
Kirby High/Low Temps - 65°/58° F
Cameron - 1,430 CFS
Cameron High/Low Temps - 68°/61° F
(As of July 16th)
Upper Madison
The Upper Madison is still fishing steadily, especially in the morning and later evenings. With the hot weather we had this last weekend and the hesitant water releases from Hebgen, I was getting a bit nervous about how the Madison would be fairing at this point; luckily, they bumped the outflow up to ~1,000, the river isn't too colored up, and the fish have adapted well.
After this bump I've been really testing out terrestrials with good success! Fish are aggressively targeting hoppers/foam attractors when thrown in slicks and along banks. We still have a good amount of caddis (small, dark brown sedges) coming off as well as sprinkles of PMD's and BWO's throughout the day depending on the time of day and proximity to one of our short mid-day rain storms.
P.S. We are in the heat of summer. Make sure to check water temperatures regularly, avoid fishing in the hottest times of day, and land/release fish as quickly as possible.
Dry Flies - Chubby Chernobyl, Elk Hair Caddis, Carnage Hopper, Sparkle Dunn
Nymphs - Skinny Dip, Firestarter Perdigon , Loopwing Emerger, Red Neck
P.S. We are in the heat of summer. Make sure to check water temperatures regularly, avoid fishing in the hottest times of day, and land/release fish as quickly as possible.
Dry Flies - Chubby Chernobyl, Elk Hair Caddis, Carnage Hopper, Sparkle Dunn
Nymphs - Skinny Dip, Firestarter Perdigon , Loopwing Emerger, Red Neck
Hebgen/Quake Lake
The lakes are in pretty similar condition to how they have been the last few weeks, with gulpers coming up with the sun and targeting callibaetis and the occasional dragonfly. If you are walking the banks, a streamer will be your safest bet especially if the wind have picked up and you can't track gulpers as well.
Dry Flies - Para Wulff Adams, Winna Spinna, Hackle Stacker, Damsel in Distress
Nymphs - Ice Cream Cone, Turkey Callibaetis
The lakes are in pretty similar condition to how they have been the last few weeks, with gulpers coming up with the sun and targeting callibaetis and the occasional dragonfly. If you are walking the banks, a streamer will be your safest bet especially if the wind have picked up and you can't track gulpers as well.
Dry Flies - Para Wulff Adams, Winna Spinna, Hackle Stacker, Damsel in Distress
Nymphs - Ice Cream Cone, Turkey Callibaetis
Streamers - Hot Bead Leach, Sex Dungeon, Thin Mint
Yellowstone National Park
Gallatin - Throwing a terrestrial or a chubby is the way to go on the Gallatin. The banks are buzzing with hoppers and are waiting in riffles and slower water along the banks.
Madison, Firehole, Gibbon - The Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon (downstream of Norris Campground) have been placed on full closures. This means that all three are closed to fishing with no exceptions. The Madison and its tributaries outside the park before Hebgen Lake are under a Hoot Owl closure (2pm-midnight) as well. We've been over this guys, even before 2 pm, just fish the Upper Madison or Gallatin if you want better, less lethal fishing.
Yellowstone River - Above the falls, Caddis and PMDs are flying around and fish are rising to both them. The river is quite busy to though, so once you find a riser throw the rotation of different flies at it until it eats. Don't give up!!
Northeast Corner - Getting to fishable conditions! A dry dropper might be necessary, but I'm sure those cutthroats would go for something big, bright, and bushy for lunch right about now. Some drakes are floating around Slough right now, I'd check that and Soda Butte out if I weren't so in love with the condition of the Upper Madison right now.
Madison, Firehole, Gibbon - The Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon (downstream of Norris Campground) have been placed on full closures. This means that all three are closed to fishing with no exceptions. The Madison and its tributaries outside the park before Hebgen Lake are under a Hoot Owl closure (2pm-midnight) as well. We've been over this guys, even before 2 pm, just fish the Upper Madison or Gallatin if you want better, less lethal fishing.
Yellowstone River - Above the falls, Caddis and PMDs are flying around and fish are rising to both them. The river is quite busy to though, so once you find a riser throw the rotation of different flies at it until it eats. Don't give up!!
Northeast Corner - Getting to fishable conditions! A dry dropper might be necessary, but I'm sure those cutthroats would go for something big, bright, and bushy for lunch right about now. Some drakes are floating around Slough right now, I'd check that and Soda Butte out if I weren't so in love with the condition of the Upper Madison right now.
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Nina Lett
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