It’s Salmonfly and Golden Stone Time!

The fishing with big dries has been epic this last week.  Everything came together after weeks of waiting: the flows dropped, the water cleared, the salmonflies moved up the river, and the fish started looking up.  The fish are also eating golden stone patterns and caddis are happening as well.

The salmonflies are all the way from McAtee to Lyons in the float section and well up into the wade section.  Lots of different patterns are working.  If you can find them, grab some Morrish’s Fluttering Stone–Salmon Fly or Dornan Water Walker Salmon Fly #6.  We’ve also been having good results on the Delektable Twisted Sister Orange/Brown #4. Again, several varieties are working: half drown Salmon Flies; floating one; and sinking ones. For the golden stones, try a Half Down Golden Stone.  The Delektable Halo Tan #16 has been good for caddis and caddis emergers. Nymphing has also been successful with Goldenstones, Stones, Caddis Nymphs, Caddis Emergers, and Yellow Sallies. We added tons of new patterns to the shop this year so stop by and explore the fly cases for all the goodies.

Caution!! The flows remain high– 2,840 at Varney Bridge.  These high flows have been getting folks into trouble. The Salmon fly hatch has caused more boat traffic and the traffic at bridges can be a challenge. >This week two boats swamped at Wolf Creek bridge within just three days.  Fortunately, everyone who was in the boats is OK.  If you are not an excellent oarsman and familiar with the currents at the Wolf Creek Bridge at these high flows, walk your boat under the bridge on the left bank. Look ahead and plan before approaching all bridges.

Also, remember that these crowds can make shuttles unavailable relatively early in the day.  It is best to arrange your shuttle the day before or early in the morning if you can. 

Looking ahead, we should be have an amazing season.  The water will be more than adequate.  The small dries will intensify as the weather warms.  Terrestrial Time should be great.  There is a tremendous amount of grass in the Valley and there are a lot of little hoppers around.  The season may have started late, but it should be a great one.  If you haven’t already done it, make your plans.

Brad and Nancy

Salmonfly Dries Now Working Above McAtee

The water has cleared enough now that the the fish can see through a good distance of water, they are looking up, and are hitting salmonfly dries.  There were a lot of salmonflies in the air today between Ruby Creek and Storey Ditch.  This nice brown was caught on a dry just downstream from the Beartooth Fly Shop, above McAtee Bridge. 

Big, dark nymphs, as noted in Dan’s report below, were also working.  As the river continues to clear and the salmonflies move upstream, things should continue to get better, even maybe get really good.

Brad

Week including July 10, 2011

The river is decidedly more dirty towards Ennis and shows better clarity as you go up towards Quake Lake. This week more folks explored up and down the river and found fish. The flows are down some and the clarity is improving daily. There is still faster than usual flows and debris coming down with it. Please use caution wading and getting under the bridges on the upper river. The majority of the activity continues to be on wet bugs even though the Salmon Flies are in the neighborhood. The hot flies lately have been #4 and #6 Delektable Stoners, Pat’s Rubberleg Brown, and Golden Stones as the top bug with a variety of Caddis nymphs, and Yellow Sally nymphs as the trailer. The big bugs are in our back yard and as the water gets more clear, you will see more activity on the dries but it is not happening just yet. We are days away from the dry or die action. Nice fish have been caught but all of them from wet flies so far. The pictures show it all.

Dan

Hi! Folks, I am one of the new guys in the Beartooth shop. Here’s my report.

The Madison River has been flowing pretty fast this week, which makes for some difficult wading. A couple days ago I checked the gauge at West Fork and it was still around 3200 CFS. The good thing is the high CFS pushed the fish right up to the banks in some of the more mellow water. I have been wading in about thigh deep water with fish rising not even 4ft from me, which makes me feel as if the fish are teasing me but it makes for some pretty comical times. Dan Morrill was with clients this week and they caught some nice trout.

>

As far as bugs, worms seemed to be the ticket with the high flow water. I have been leading the worms with some Delektable Mega Princes and Golden Stones. I fished around Windy Point and Lyons Bridge and caught some nice rainbows. I also fished up at Three Dollar Bridge and had some luck but it also seems to be the most popular. Every time I have gone up there in the evening I am one of eight or nine cars.

Last night, I fished above West Fork and it was tough going. The bugs were definitely out and I couldn’t’t seem to put the right bug on my line. At around 7:30 pm the caddis were coming out and I decided to throw a dry fly just to see if the fish would take it in the dirty water. I fished with the dry fly for an hour or so with no success. I think this next week I might go up to the lakes as I have heard some people getting good results.

Hi! Folks, I am another one of the news guys at Beartooth Flyfishing and here’s my add to the report. Alright Guys and Girls here is the skinny. Water Flow around 3000 CFS at Kirby, Water Clarity a foot and a half. I Know what you are thinking a foot and half of water clarity on the Madison River this time of year, you must be pulling my leg. As we are all aware we are experiencing an exceptional amount of runoff this year, creating marginal fishing conditions throughout the region. Most would want you to believe that the visibility range is more like 0 to 3 inches, which is certainly not without merit. However I would say some investigation and some traveling will prove otherwise. Recently I took a path a little less traveled and found some great water that proved itself worth the effort. I had some time off and traveled to the upper stretch of the Madison River just above the outflow of Cabin Creek below, Hebgen Dam area. This area as well as one or two other area afforded me the best  chances for great visibility, hatches that could not go unnoticed by the resident Trout population.

I spent most of my day fishing underneath with normal subsurface table fare. That is until I recognized that these fish are fast becoming the only game in town, by the looks of local traffic that was surrounding me. I then changed my customary patterns for some more scaled down nymph patterns in hopes to allict some more action. Patterns consisted of Delektable CDC Baby, Tungsten Sallies, Rainbow Czech Nymph, Bar Emerger, lightning bugs, most anything tied with tungsten. The fish responded positively, and the bite was on.

As a note: Tungsten bead heads work for me because I like to get away from split shot in heavy turbulent water. Split shot adds to fouling snags and hangs ups very easily. Of which I would rather not have the head ache when the bite is on. As for the tungsten when I need more weight I move to a larger fly instead of moving to shot or increasing the amount of shot. In the end the tactics paid off and several nice Bows were brought to hand. Rainbows that I would not have had the pleasure to catch had I not done some research and traveling.

Dan mentioned that he had an opportunity to fish with friends and Fished the Delektable Hurless, Stoner, and Mega Princes in size # 6 As a top fly and #8 Bottom bug. They hooked around 15 fish before heading off to Lyons Bridge Area, where Marcus took 6 nice fish. If you are looking for some fun this week but  you think the water I to off color or is to high, better think again. Think small and High stick em! 

Marcus and Vince