Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 7/24/2017
Montana
Dam: 1160 cfs
Kirby: 1430 cfs
Upper Madison: The hot temps continue. The daytime water temps at Kirby have been hovering just above 70 for the past couple days. The cooler nighttime temps have been a boon for the river right now. We could see a few slightly cooler days and some intermittent storms this week which would be a very welcome sight. The river is definitely fishing best early and late. Nymphing is your best bet, but you can still find some fish working here and there to caddis and spinners in the evening hours. If you're intent on fishing dries, we’ve heard some rumblings of fish looking up for hoppers so a hopper/dropper might be a good strategy during the afternoon hours.
Flies: #16 Elk Hair Caddis. #16 Rusty Spinner, #12 Grand Hopper, #16 Lake Prince, #16-18 Guide Dip, #16-18 Beadhead Shop Vacs.
YNP
Gallatin: Continues to be a great place to beat the heat. Should continue to see some caddis and PMDs over there throughout the week. This should go without saying but if you're heading that way make sure to have your bear spray and preferably some fishing compadres, almost every person we’ve talked to coming back from there have been spotting bears throughout the entire park stretch.
NE Corner: Slough, Soda Butte, and Lamar are now all running clear. The usual mayfly hatches haven't exactly been strong, but fish will come up to a good presentation with a Drake or PMD. We’ve also been getting them to eat some smaller terrestrials, especially beetles.
Flies: #12 DOA Green Drake Cripple, #12 Missing Link Green Drake, #16 DOA PMD Cripple, #14 Bogus Beetle.
Yellowstone above the Falls: Seeing a lot of pressure this past week, which is to be expected for opening week. Water level is dropping slowly but surely, but the river there is still high. We’ve been finding fish holding in much of the slack water near the banks. Still seeing a lot of salmonflies and goldens over there. Also expect to see some Drakes, PMDs and caddis. They've been relatively unwilling to come up and eat dries with their usual abandon. Expect a good number of refusals until the combination of your presentation and fly selection come together. If they aren't coming up for any of your offerings, try a dropper or sight nymphing to them.
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Tom Forsberg
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