Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 7/23/2019
Montana
Upper Madison: The Madison has continued to fish really well over the past week. Strong daily caddis emergences have provided the most consistent dry fly action, but look for PMD’s, epeorus, Yellow Sally and attractor patterns to bring some fish to the surface as well. You can still throw some larger salmons and goldens around and fool a few fish, but it seems to be working less and less each day. If you’re between hatches and want to keep fishing on top, it might not be too early to start throwing some terrestrials around. The nymphing is still going strong, although it seems that we are just about getting to that point in the season where we need to start switching to some smaller patterns (size 16-18).
Flies: #8 Salmonfly Hotcake, #10 Henry’s Fork Stone, #10 Half-down Golden, #6-12 Chubby Chernobyl, #14 Full-tilt Sally, #16-18 X-Caddis, #16 D.O.A. PMD Cripple, #16 Ausable Parawulff, #14-16 Lake Prince, #16-18 Shop Vac, #14-16 Red Neck, #16-18 Green/Black Lightning Bug, #16-18 Guide Dip/$3 Dip, #16-18 Krystal Dip, #16-18 Soft Hackle Hare’s Ear
Hebgen: We are still waiting for things to really get rolling on Hebgen as far as bugs and dry fly fishing goes. That being said, nymphing with a chironomid, callibaetis or hare’s ear continues to be very effective most days.
Flies: #12 Sno Cone, #14-16 Turkey Callibaetis, #16 Callibaetis Parachute, #10 Simi Seal Leech, #8 Jig Bugger
Gallatin: If you’re looking for a place to throw some dries in some nice, cool water during this upcoming warm week, the Gallatin is your spot. We have been catching nice fish both in and out of the park stretch lately and it should only keep getting better in the coming days. Bring yellow sallies, caddis, drakes, PMD’s, and your attractors of choice. Fair warning that with all these afternoon storms we have been getting, the water below Taylor Fork has been kicking in some color depending on the day.
Flies: #12 Chili Dog, #14-16 Lime/Royal Trude, #12-16 Parawulff, #14 409, #8-12 Royal/Peacock/Golden Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Tan X-Caddis, #14 Full-Tilt Sally
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone above the Falls: Despite the water being a little higher and more off color than we would like, we have still had some great reports coming in from the Yellowstone since opening day. Expect to see golden stones, drakes, PMD’s and caddis both above and below LeHardy.
Flies: #8-12 Salmon/Golden Cubby Chernobyl, #12 Chutes Green Drake, #12 Missing Link Green Drake, #14-16 Missing Link #16 D.O.A. PMD Cripple, #16 PMD Sparkle Dun, #16 Tan X-Caddis, #12-16 Rusty Spinner
NE Corner: Slough, Lamar and Soda Butte are now all officially clear enough to be fishable and you should be able to find rising fish in any and all of these. Terrestrials, drakes, PMD’s, Caddis and attractors will all be in play. If you still find the water in Lamar and Soda Butte to be slightly off color, try a tungsten head dropper off the back of a larger hopper or Chubby.
Flies: #12-16 Royal Trude, #12-16 Parawulff Adams, #12 Missing Link Green Drake, #14-16 Missing Link, #16 PMD Sparkle Dun, #16 D.O.A. PMD Cripple, #16 Tan X-Caddis, #14 409, #12 Quill JIg, #12 Lucent Jig, #16 Olive Biot Czech
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Tom Forsberg
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