Fishing Locations

Flows have actually been fairly stable the last few days and the fishing has been good out this way. If floating, be sure to call a shuttle in early. On calm days, we have been seeing a variety of bugs. Caddis, PMDs, yellow sallies and stoneflies are all on the menu.  There may be a few salmon flies in Beartrap canyon, we had reports of them up this way on Saturday.  If you can get a day on the river that is overcast the dry fly bite can be very productive. When the dreaded W is mellow, a dry dropper rig is a great option as well. Try a chubby or water walker with an atrractor mayfly nymph underneath. Fish are spread out quite a bit, so don't be afraid to fish some water you might typically skip. Double nymph rigs have been the best way to get the numbers typically consisting of worms, crayfish, zirdle bugs, soft hackles, lil spankers, and dirty birds. Try fishing the weed beds if you are not getting fish along the banks. Feel free to stop by the shop for more info on how to fish the lower madison!

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Fly Pattern Suggestions

Dries| Griffiths Gnat: 18-20, Biot-Midge: 20-22, Quigley Cluster: 18-20-24, Z-Lon Midge: 20-22, Matt’s Midge: 18-20-22, Thorax BWO: 16-18-20, CDC Emerger BWO: 16-18-20, Comparadun BWO: 16-18-20, Challenged BWO: 16-18-20, CDC elk hair caddis: 14-18, X-caddis tan & olive 14-18, Snow shoe caddis: 14-18, Goddard caddis: 14-16

Nymphs| Split-Case PMD; 18-20, Deaddrift Crayfish: 8 Clousers Crayfish: 8-10 Olive Zirddle: 6-8 Copper John Black or Blue: 16-18, San Juan Worms Pink, Orange, Brown, Tan, Red:10 IED Worm: 10 Floss Worm: 14 Little Bit of E: 16-18, Dirty Bird: 10-12-14-16, Crawling Caddis: 16-18, Serengold, Olive: 12-14-16, Tung. Terminator Golden: 6-8, Cased caddis: 12-14, Dirty Bird: hares ear & olive 12-14, Sernengold: 12-16, Z-wing caddis: 14-18

Streamers| Baby Gonga: 8, Haymaker Sculpin Black or Olive: 4, Triple B Olive/White 4, McCunes Sculpin: Tan 4-6, Bugger Brown: 6 Zonkers Tan/Copper, Olive/Pearl: 4-6-8 Sex Dungeon Yellow, Orange, Black: 2 Fatheads Yellow, Black: 2 Flash Fry Yellow/Brown: 2 Home Invader Yellow, Black: 2 Gold Bead Rubber Leg Krystal Bugger Black & Olive: 4-6 JJ Special: 2-4-6 Bling Minnow Gold: 6 McCune's Sculpin Olive/Tan: 4-6

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More USGS Water Data