Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 7/10/2018
Montana
Upper Madison: There continues to be plenty of insect activity taking place on the Madison right now. Salmonflies have moved up pretty much throughout most of the wade section at this point, but the thickest part of the hatch is somewhere at the upper part of the float section. Some days they have been eating them really well, other days not so much. If they don’t seem to want to eat the big bug or if you’re rising fish but getting refused, try fishing something smaller. There are plenty of Goldens, caddis, PMDs, and Yellow Sallies hatching throughout the day and the fish will usually be a little less leery about eating these. The caddis and spinner fishing in the evening has been especially good all the way up until dark.
Flies: #8 Salmonfly Hotcake, #8-10 Salmonfly Razorback, #10 Low-Rider Golden, #14 Full Tilt Sally, #16 Rusty Spinner, #16 PMD Missing Link, #16 Tilt Wing PMD, #16 Purple Rocky Mountain Mint, #14-18 Parachute Caddis, #16 Front End Loader, #12-14 Biot Golden Stone, #16-18 Red Neck, #16 Olive Biot Czech, #14-18 Shop Vac, #16-18 Guide Dip
Hebgen Lake: The Callibaetis seem to be coming off a little bit stronger with each passing day, but fishing has still been a little inconsistent, especially with the wind gusting as hard as it has been the past few days. With the continued warm weather and hopefully less wind in the forecast it should only keep getting better out there.
Flies: #16 Turkey Callibaetis, #16 Callibaetis Cripple, #16 Pheasant Tail
Gallatin: There are still good numbers of Salmonflies in the canyon stretch and between 320 Ranch and the Park boundary, but the fishing them has become a little tougher as of late. Similarly to the Madison, if you are running into weary fish with the larger patterns go with something small instead. There have been plenty of Yellow Sallies and caddis around. PMDs have been getting going the past couple of days also. The bite has been better with the smaller bugs than with the Salmonflies at this point.
* Our special thanks to the crew over at Gallatin River Guides for providing us with the most up-to-date info on the Gallatin
YNP
Firehole: After these last few days of hot weather, and an outlook for more 80 degree days, it’s about time for us to give the Firehole a break until September.
Gibbon/Madison: We are probably looking at the last week of fishing on the Madison and the Gibbon below the falls, but it may be possible to sneak in a few more days this week yet. Mornings and evenings when the temps are cooler will be best. A combo of a Henry’s Fork Stone/Chubby with a smaller dropper has been working well on the Gibbon.
NE Corner: Slough and Lamar are still high and cold but running clear. The streamer/nymph action has been good, but we have also seen quite a few rising fish. Caddis and stonefly dries have been effective so far and it’s a good time of year for a dry dropper. It will only get better as these rivers continue to drop. Make sure to bring long sleeves and bug spray as the biting flies are pretty horrendous up there.
Flies: #10-14 Chubby, #16-18 Parachute Caddis, #14 Orange Bullet, #14 Olive Bullet
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Tom Forsberg
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