Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 6/9/20
Montana
Upper Madison: Between spring runoff and the water being let out of the dam over the past week or so, flows on the Madison remain quite high and the water is off color to varying degrees everywhere below Cabin Creek. This doesn’t mean there isn’t good fishing to be had! When the water is like this, you can bet that the majority of fish are tucked into the bank looking for any soft water available to them. Larger nymphs like sill-legs and worms with a smaller hot-spot dropper fished tight to the bank can be very effective during these conditions. Another good option is throwing a streamer directly upstream and stripping it back downstream tight to the bank. This is also a super fun method because the takes are very visual as you watch a fish shoot out from under the bank for your streamer.
Flies: #8-10 Sili-legs, #12-14 Biot Golden Stone, San Juan Worm, #12 Tactical Tung. Pink Hot Spot Jig, #14-16 Frenchie, #14-16 Red Neck, #16 Olive Hot Spot Perdigon, #16 Iron Lotus, #6 Mini Sex Dungeon, #6 Mini Bangtail, #2 Meat Whistle
Hebgen: Hebgen has not been too consistent as of late, especially if you are looking for rising fish. However, we have been able to pick up at least a few nice fish every time we’ve been out either by stripping leeches or by floating chironomid nymphs under indicators.
Flies: #12 O.S. Opal/Red Buzzer, #14 Black/Red Nugget, #6 Olive Hot Bead Leech, #8 Canadian Goat Leech
Gallatin: The Gallatin remains in pretty heavy spring runoff stage. Much like the Madison, nymphs and streamers tight to the bank will be your best bet.
Yellowstone National Park
Firehole: The Firehole is currently providing the best water clarity and dry fly fishing in the area. With the weather the last few days, we have been seeing good hatches of baetis and PMDs during the late afternoon hours. As the weather heats back up over the coming days, look for White Miller Caddis to make an appearance as well. As usual, swinging a soft hackle is almost always a surefire way to catch fish on the Firehole before, during and after any hatches you run into.
Flies: #18 BWO Sparkle Dun, #16-18 BWO Klinkhammer, #16 Parachute PMD, #16 Tilt Wing PMD, #16 PMD Cripple, #14 Tan Elk Hair Caddis, #14 Tan/Olive Diving Caddis, #12 Partridge & Green, #12 Partridge & Peacock, #14 Partridge & PT
Madison: The Madison is high and visibility isn’t great, however the fishing has been since the park opened a little over a week ago. We have been seeing good numbers of natural salmonflies and the fish have been keyed in on them. Smaller patterns (#8-12) have been working better than larger patterns most days. With the water high and dirty, our most consistent fishing has been pretty much within a foot of the bank.
Flies: #10 Hot Cake Salmonlfly, #8-12 Razorback Salmonfly, #8 Supafly Salmonfly
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Tom Forsberg
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