We would like to formally thank everyone who participated, donated, and enjoyed our 13th annual Montana Hope Project fundraising event. It was a terrific turnout as always with some of our closest friends and family from across the world; who came and supported this amazing cause in memory of Grandpa “John” Delekta. We reached better than expected as our fundraiser goal through amazing donations of money, food, and time. If you missed it and still want to donate, please call us at 406-682-7525 or send an email to info@beartoothflyfishing.com. We would be happy to help you with guidance on providing donations via check, credit card, and/or cash.
The Summer fishing on the Upper Madison River has been producing despite hot Summer days and smoke haze drifting into the valley. The buffet is still open, and the fish are coming back for thirds. The heat has displaced a lot of the large seasonal insect hatches on the Upper Madison, leaving fish to forage on larger terrestrial insects like Grasshoppers, Flying Ants, Beetles, and whatever floats on by. Additionally, nocturnal Stoneflies and Spruce Moth activity have given the fish incentive to continue to feed during hotter Summer days and nights.
Dry Fly and upper water column fishing has been some of the most productive techniques on the Upper Madison River this Summer. With tiny pseudo PMD’s, Spinners, and smaller Caddis patterns working throughout the day; with Hoppers and other flying terrestrial insects prevalent across the valley Fish seek refuge behind boulders and under cutbanks, rising on insects that drift into their feeding lane. This style of dry fly fishing is productive in targeting larger rising trout, for quality fish in the heart of Summer. Additionally, Nocturnal Stoneflies persist and can attract feeding strikes in the Nymph and adult forms.
River flows in early August have reached just above 1,400 cubic feet per second at Kirby monitoring station, and 1,550 cubic feet per second at the Cameron monitoring station. After much needed rain this past week, flows are steadily dropping to 1,000 cfs at Kirby and 1,100 cfs. Flow bumps from Hebgen lake were released more frequently when daytime temperatures in excess of 90 degrees were prolonged; which increased the quantity of cooler water entering the system to alleviate warm temperatures for fish further down river. Madison river flow rates can be viewed using The U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge at Cameron (Madison River near Cameron MT – USGS-06040000) and Kirby (Madison River at Kirby Ranch near Cameron MT – USGS-06038800).
Nymphs: Delektable Guidestone Black / Brown #8-#12; Pat’s Rubberleg Black / Brown #8-#12; Delektable Gold BH Formerly Mega Prince # 8-#10; Delektable FB Sparkle Kaboom Stone #8-#10; Gepperts Skinny Dip Crystal, Black, & Brown #14-#18; BH Lightning Bug Silver, Gold, or Olive #14-#18; Jig CDC Brown Trasher #16; JH Quill PMD Spanish Bullet #14-#18.
Dry Flies: White Cloud Hopper Peach, Tan, or Olive #10-#14; Morrish Hopper Olive, Tan #12; Mongo Hopper Tan, or Peach #12; Delektable Lil’ Chubby UV Cinnamon, Royal, or UV Black #14-#18; Delektable Slammer Cream, Yellow, or Tan / Red Thread # 8 -14; Delektable Twisted X Tan / Brown #14-#16.
Delektable Screamer Single Olive/Black Silver, Olive/Black Gold, Black, Olive/White, or Olive #6, Jr’s Conehead Streamer Olive #6, Dalai Llama Olive/White #6-#10; Coffey’s Minnow JJ, or Sparkle #6; McCune’s Sculpin Olive #4-#8.
