Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 7/21/20
Montana
Upper Madison: Caddis, Yellow Sallies, attractors and a few afternoon hoppers have been providing some good dry fly fishing throughout the day. I think we are all hoping for a hopper season like last year and we have been seeing some good signs so far. Nymphing has remained really consistent and as we mentioned last week, it’s about that time of year where smaller flies (#14-18) will out-fish larger flies in a big way.
Flies: #16-18 Krystal Dip, #14-18 Frenchie, #14-16 Green Machine, #14-18 Red Neck, #14-16 Lake Prince, #16 Olive Hot Spot Perdigon, #16 HoloPoint, #16-18 Shop Vac, #16-18 Olive S.H. Hare’s Ear, #16 Front-end Loader, #12-16 Royal Wulff, #14-16 Parawullf, #16 Shop Vac, #14-18 X-Caddis, #16 Parachute PMD, #16 Tilt Wing PMD, #16 PMD Cripple, #14 Full-Tilt Sally, #12 Tan and Pink Chili Dogs
Hebgen: The callibaetis fishing on Hebgen has been steadily picking up over the past week. Risers continue to be a little sporadic, but are starting to get a little more consistent. If we can get some favorable weather in the next week or two things will only get better. If you’re out there in the meantime and struggling to find tracking fish, try a callibaetis nymph or flashback PT as a dropper.
Flies: #14-16 Turkey Callibaetis, #14-16 Flashback PT, #16 Parachute Callibaetis, #16 Callibaetis Cripple, #16 Callibaetis Spinner, #14-16 Parachute Adams
Gallatin: The Gallatin continues to fish well. Look for PMDs and a few drakes during early afternoons and caddis during the later afternoon and evening hours. Attractors the rest of the time will keep you occupied. As usual with the Gallatin, no need to head over here too early in the day and bring your bear spray.
Flies: #16-18 X-Caddis, #16 Parachute PMD, #12-16 Royal Wulff, #14-16 Parawullf, #12 Perrin’s Green Drake, #12 Green Drake Missing Link, #12-14 Lime Trude
Yellowstone National Park
Slough/Soda Butte/Lamar: Things are now in full swing up in the NE corner and these rivers have been fishing really well. Drakes, PMDs and some caddis hatches will have fish rising for the better part of the day. It’s almost never too early in the season to throw some terrestrials as well. At this early stage of the season on these rivers, a good drift to a rising fish should bring you success.
Flies: #12 Perrin’s Green Drake, #12 Green Drake Missing Link, #12 Green Drake Sprout, #16 Parachute PMD, #16 Hairwing PMD, #16-18 PMD Sprout, #16-18 X-Caddis
Yellowstone Above the Falls: It has definitely been a busy opening week this year. We had a successful trip or two head over there this past week and while they reported heavy crowds, they also had some really great fishing. Look for drakes, PMDs, caddis and stoneflies. Chubbies both with and without tungsten droppers are good starting options.
Flies: #8 Supafly Salmonfly/Golden, #8 Water Walker Salmonfly, #10 Water Walker Golden, #12 Perrin’s Green Drake, #12 Green Drake Missing Link, #12 Green Drake Sprout, #16 Parachute PMD, #16 Hairwing PMD, #16-18 PMD Sprout, #16-18 X-Caddis, #12-18 Rusty Spinner
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Tom Forsberg
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