With the increased water flow out of Hebgen Lake, the river below is full of fish. My daughter Allie, Michael, and I sampled this river full of fish on Monday. I pulled out a 1950’s Heddon Bamboo fly rod that I totally rebuilt into a 8′ 5/6 Wt. casting machine and an old Hardy reel to fish. The flies I fitted this outfit with were a #6 BH Delektable Mega Prince Flashback and a #8 BH Delektable Hurless Stone Flashback: >Delektable Flies Gallery.

It was a perfect day with Sqwalla stoneflies emerging and the imitations working on my outfit. 20 or more fish later, the outfit proved deadly. Michael and Allie had equal success with Michael using Pink San Juans, BH Red Headed Stepchilds and Allie fishing a combination of Delektable Mega Princes and Hurless Stones. Michael was the first to crack the 20″ mark with his second Rainbow. Allie caught the largest, a 22″ Bow, and my best was a 20+inch Brown Trout. I simply love fishing the old gear and the cool photos that are produced. Thanks for the cool photos, Michael.

Dan

The Upper Madison River opened to fishing from Quake Lake to McAtee Bridge today.

I was fortunate to be able to float the river with two of my friends, Bernie and Allan. We dropped my raft in at Lyons Bridge around 10 AM and didn’t go more than 100 yards downstream before Bernie landed a large Brown on a streamer. The fishing was great all day for Browns and Rainbows and one large Whitefish. The photos tell the full story.

The flies of the day included streamers, Delektable Screamers in Black, and Delektable Double Screamers in Black/Olive, and Olive/Yellow. The nymphs that were hot were the #6 and #8 Delektable Hurless Stone Gray Flashback, Delektable Mega Prince Standard Flashback, and the #12 and #14 Delektable CDC Baby: >Delektable Flies Gallery  The hatches that were visible in that section of the river were Midges, BWO’s, March Browns, and Sqwallas.

We had some additional fishing reports from Slide and Reynolds Pass: fish were biting on Delektable Mega Princes, Delektable Hurless Stones, Hot Beaded San Juans, Streamers, and Beadhead Caddis flies.

Dan

We had a mega float with Chip and Billy on a 20 MPH+ upstream wind blown day from McAtee to

8 Mile Ford. A mixture of Squalla Stoneflies, March Browns, BWO’s, and Mother’s Day Caddis were our hatches of the day; but the real story was fighting a 20 MPH+ upstream wind. All three of us battled the wind all day and the results were Big Brown Trout and Rainbows brought to the net.

The flies of the day were White Delektable Screamers #6, Delektable Olive Mega Prince Flashback #8, Delektable Olive Flashback Hurless Stone #8: >Delektable Flies Gallery, Hot Orange Beaded Maroon San Juan Worm #8, Beadhead Purple Flashback Prince #12, Beadhead One Man Party #14, and Beadhead Shop Vac #14.

Dan

We had a great outing with Dad and his three sons. It’s an incredible experience when a father and a son go fishing together; even more incredible when a dad and three sons that all love to be together, fishing together, and be on a guided float trip together.

Marty and I had the pleasure of taking Dale, Blake, Bronson, and Colten. We embarked on a long journey from McAtee Bridge; 18 miles later we took out at 8 Mile Ford. Everyone caught fish. The boys caught bigger and more but I think that’s what Dale had been planning all along.

Dan

May 10, 2011

Beartooth Flyfishing hosted a free day with the Ennis High School Science Club. It was a big time fun day. Nancy Delekta made 18 lunches for the group which were the usual Beartooth delight including Elle’s Belles Rainbow Trout Cookies, Yumm!.

Pat Clancy shocked a number of fish at Ruby Creek with two other FWP employees and explained procedures; genetics; and FWP work efforts to the Science Club.

The guides and outfitters who helped included: Dan Delekta; Marty Authement; Shad Sterzick; and Charlie Graham. They provided their drift boats and rafts and rowed the group from McAtee to Storey Ditch. Everyone had a great time on a cold spring day and some nice rainbows were also caught.

Dan

We landed 7 or 8, but missed quite a few on skwalas. The photos are of Curt with a 20″ Rainbow in my boat. The other is of Allen with an 18″ Rainbow. All we caught were rainbows.

Thanks for the report from another Dan,

the Rocky Mountain Embroidery Dan

April 27, 2011

My first day guiding the Madison River this season. A new resident of Ennis wanted to learn and fish the more remote sections of the river. The decision was easy, McAtee bridge to Varney bridge was chosen. Baird inquired about hatches we could expect to see and I went down the list: Sqwalla Stone flies; BWO’s; Midges; March Browns; and maybe some Caddis. We have a nice variety, but any dry fly action would be a bonus.

We started with a Delektable Olive Mega Prince Flashback in a size #8 in tandem. From the time we put in we caught larger rainbows and this continued all the way to the take out. We added two brown trout to our totals. What a great first day to be introduced to this section of the Madison. Baird soon forgot about his desire for the dry fly bite because his fly rod was continually bent on the nymph bite. Welcome to our wonderful neighborhood, Baird.

Dan