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The Lower Madison has been fishing good lately. However, the last few days have been tough. Wind has picked up and flipped Ennis Lake, along with the flows being bumped up to 2,ooo cfs.
Caddis are still around and fish have been on them hard at times, and seemingly fully ignoring the dries at other times. There is also a good crop of Baetis, stoneflies, and even a few march browns still kicking around. With all the bug life, we have been having good success with the dry dropper rig. The chubby has been one of the better prospecting flies as of late, and the caddis pupa is a great bet underneath. With a little cold weather in the forecast, expect the caddis to slow down a little bit, and the baetis to make one last hard surge before they wrap up for the spring.
Dries:
Elk Hair Caddis Olive, tan, grey (14-16), Stubby Chubby (12-14), Purple Haze (16-18), Adam's Parachute (16-18), Royal Wulff (12-14), Lime Trude (14), DELEKTABLE Caddis (12-16), Chubby (12-16)
Nymphs:
Hare's Ear (14-16), Prince Nymph (14-16), Blowtorch (16-18), worms, crayfish (6-8), lil spanker (14-18), frenchie (18), rs2 (16-20), Sunkist (16-18), perdigons (16-18), Zirdle (6-12)
Streamers:
Sparkle minnows, Kreelex minnows, goldie, sculpzilla, jaw breaker, lil kims
