Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 6/26/18
Montana
Upper Madison: It’s been an interesting week of fishing on the Madison. With the near daily rain we have had for the past week, and Hebgen already being 100% full, flows down at Kirby were around 3,000 cfs for a good portion of the week. This made for some inconsistent fishing. Flows are now dropping incrementally each day and should continue to do so as the forecast for the next week looks warm and dry. Fishing has picked up again quite nicely. The nymph bite has been good throughout the day using stonefly and caddis nymphs. There have been quite a few caddis with fish rising to them, though it seems there is more of this in the float section than the wade section at the moment. Even if you don’t see any bugs around, prospecting with a caddis in the slower slicks along the banks in the wade section has brought up some nice fish. Although we are still a little ways out from seeing the naturals in any numbers, we have been raising some fish to Salmonflies in the float section as well.
Flies: #8-12 Sili Legs, #14-16 Shop Vac, #16 Iron Lotus, #14-16 Guide Dip, #16 Green Machine, #14 Olive Bullet, #14-16 Missing Link, #14-16 Tan EC Caddis, #15 CDC & Elk
Hebgen: Hebgen has not been fishing quite as consistently as it has been the past 2-3 weeks. We have been seeing a few Callibaetis but they are still pretty few and far between. Suspending Chironomid and Callibaetis nymphs remains most productive.
Flies: #14 Peacock Chironomid, #14-16 Turkey Callibaetis, #16 Callibaetis Cripple
Gallatin
The Gallatin still is still a bit high but is on the way down. Nymphing will be your best bet with flies such as Rubber Legs and smaller size 16-18 nymphs. Make sure to play around with flies until you find something that’s working.
* Our special thanks to the crew over at Gallatin River Guides for the most up-to-date info on the Gallatin.
YNP
Firehole/Gibbon: The FIrehole is fishing very well at the moment. White Miller caddis and PMD’s have provided dry fly action on a daily basis and swinging soft hackles has been as effective as always. We have still been having some luck getting some fish to come up to small golden stones on the Gibbon below the falls as well.
Flies: #16 Sulphur Comparadun, #16 CDC Para-PMD, #14 Tan Spruce Moth, #10 Golden Razorback, #10-12 Partridge & Peacock, #10-12 Partridge & Green
Madison: Although you can fish dries such as caddis, PMD’s, and even Salmonflies yet on the Madison if you time it right, the most consistent fishing recently has been nymphing and streamers.
Flies: #16 Sulphur Comparadun, #16 CDC Para-PMD, #14 Tan Spruce Moth, #8 Salmonfly Razorback, #8-10 Sili Legs, #12 CDC Red Tag Jig, #14 Orange Bullet, #6 Sparkle MInnow, #8 Simi Seal Leech
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Tom Forsberg
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