Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report for June 17, 2022
As I’m sure you’ve all heard we have had some major rain in our area, coupled with our heavy spring snowpack it caused some heavy run-off and flooding. West Yellowstone at the west entrance to Yellowstone and the Madison River watershed, fortunately, escaped the flooding. The towns of Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner at the north entrance were not as fortunate.
Along with these two towns, the Lamar Valley in the northeast section of Yellowstone experienced heavy flooding. Many roads in this area have been destroyed leaving those areas disconnected from the outside world. Our thoughts are with those communities affected by the flooding.
Currently, Yellowstone National Park is closed. The park service is working on a plan to open the gates at the west, east, and south entrances. This will allow visitors to drive the southern loop of the park. The north loop will remain closed for the remainder of the season. As soon as we know more about the park re-opening, we’ll post an update.
With that being said, the Upper Madison River is still in the middle of run-off. We currently are not able to float under Shelton and Wolf Cr. Bridges but have been having pretty good success walk/wading. The inflow to Hebgen Lake is 2,560cfs and the outflow out of the dam is 3,216. With the outflow exceeding the inflow we anticipate the dam outflow to begin to drop. This should allow us to begin float trips within the next week if conditions remain the same.
Once the water returns to normal, we are expecting an awesome summer of fishing.
Montana
Hebgen: Hebgen Lake is currently full. The lake is beginning to clear up pretty well. Stripping buggers/leeches or nymphing under an indicator will be your best option on the lake. With leeches and buggers, switch up your retrieval until you find something the fish like.
Flies: #8 Black or Olive Simi Seal Leech, #6 Flash-a-Bugger, #6 Olive or Black Hot Bead Leech
Flows
Inflow to Hebgen Lake: 2,560cfs
Hebgen Lake Outflow: 3,190cfs
Kirby Flows: 3,930cfs
** Flows as of 12 pm June 17, 2022
Upper Madison: The Upper Madison is high and off-color. Currently, we cannot float the Upper Madison but walk/wading is still productive. Don’t just wade right into the river, the fish are right on the bank in this high water. Nymphing a two-fly setup will be your most productive method right now. Dead drifting a big stonefly /nymph combo under an indicator has been the go-to. Keep an eye out for fish-eating baetis, especially on the cloudier afternoons mid to late week (yes, we’re still seeing risers). Early mornings and then later evenings have been the best for streamer action.
Flies: #6-8 Sili Legs, #16-18 Olive Hare’s Ear, #14-16 Ram Caddis, #18 Higas SOS Midge, #18-20 BWO Loop Wing, #6 Black Woolly Bugger, #6 Black/Purple Sparkle Yummy, #6 Olive Sparkle Minnow.
Gallatin: The Gallatin right now is high, cold and off-colored. With the park section closed to fishing your best bet will be from the park boundary to Taylors Fork. There’s a whole bunch of muddy water coming out of the Taylors Fork so your best bet will be upstream. But if you do choose to venture out to the Gallatin, nymphing will be your best bet.
Yellowstone National Park – Closed until further notice.
|
|
John Schilling
Author
Manager