Once again, this year we were blessed to have the opportunity to team up with Members of the Madison-Gallatin TU Chapter and our good friend Michael Gerhart hosting a wonderful group of Veterans for three days of excellent Fly Fishing on the Upper Madison. A Big Thank You to Michael, Bob Frey, and Andy Moore and the other volunteers for the wonderful time. Great food was had by all at Michael’s place here in the Valley each morning and evening of their stay. Memories to last a lifetime were made each day. The Trout cooperated wonderfully, and the smiles on the faces of each member of the group says it all. As always we are proud and honored to participate in these trips each and every year. Giving back to the Veteran’s who have sacrificed so much for us is priceless!
Mayhem In May here on the Madison River! Our vets group came in on the 19th to some great conditions! Their first day was awesome!
The River took a good drop in flow, which made the wade fishing solid. Many runs in the upper section historically in the spring can become too high to wade out to. The delayed release out of Hebgen has allowed the buckets in the middle of the river to be accessible for wading. In Between the Lakes at a low clear flow, indicator fishing with light tippets such as 4X or even 5X has been effective for catching fish in such a pressured area when surrounding systems have runoff. As for the Madison below Quake Lake you can get away with some heavier tippet as clarity is still somewhat off colored. Keying into the prevalent hatches such as BWO’s and Caddis will get you into some fish this time of year, as well as Egg patterns and Streamers. Nymphing will usually get more numbers, while Streamer fishing or flies such as Eggs or Worms tend to catch larger fish. Not always the case but true in most situations, especially when talking about streamer fishing. Often, folks including Shop Crew have hooked Their largest fish on reaction strikes while throwing streamers in the Spring. Dry Fly eats have been happening with the Trout beginning to look for the larger insects with Salmon Flies a few weeks out.
With temps on the rise in the coming weeks expect hatches to increase and a possible flow bump. The fishing will remain solid as fish in most cases slide into the banks and deep holes still accessible to wade fisherman. Here at Beartooth Flyfishing we are open 7 days a week, 8AM to 5PM! Come on in for the best Free Coffee in the Valley, the best flies and the best stories!
Nymphs: Delektable Gold B.H. Formerly Mega Prince Std #8-10; Pat’s Rubberlegs Brown/Black #6-#10; Delektable Guide Stone Brown/Black #6-#10; Firebead Rays Pink #18; Delektable Jig Hook Tungsten Micro Spanker Hares Ear, Holo Olive, Holo Black, Pheasant Tail #16-#18; Delektable FB Sparkle Kaboom Stone #8-#10; Delektable Tungsten Gold BH Formerly Prince #14-#16, Delektable Mega Prince FB Standard #8-#10; Jig CDC Thrasher Copper, Brown, Rainbow #14-#16, BH Lightning Bug Pearl, Silver #12-#16; Wire Worm Red, Pink #6-#10; Delektable Worm Pink, Red, Wine #12-#16. Delektable Lil’ Spanker Silver, Pheasant Tail #12-#18; Jig Duracell Original, Copper Top #16; Stoker’s Two Hot Baetis #18; Silver BH Black Spanish Bullet.
Streamers: Dalai Llama #6-#10; Delektable Screamer Single Olive/White, Olive/Black and Gold, Black #6; Trevor’s Sculpin Olive #4; Coffey’s Conehead Sparkle Minnow Smoke, Sculpin #6; Zonker Natural/Pearl, Natural/Copper #6-#8; Sculpzilla Black, Olive/White #4-#8; McCune’s Sculpin Olive #4-#8. Dries: Delektable CDC Elk Hair Caddis Tan, Holo Olive #14- #16; Delektable Halo Peacock Dark Olive or Royal #14-16; Carlson’s Purple Craze #16; Delektable Mega Chubbyness Royal #8-10; Sparkle Dun BWO #18-#20; Bat Wing Emerger BWO #18; Delektable Teaser BWO #18-#20; Parachute Adams #12-#16; Jake’s Hatchback BWO #18. Delektable Sparkle Bug Dark Olive #14-#18.
