In the Madison Valley, weather patterns are reciprocal by nature. And such was the case for this particular stretch of September. In typical fall fashion, we started the weekend off with cold, windy and wet weather. The streamer bite was on for most boaters throwing Sheilas, Mini-loops and Zonkers with a 16 or 18 dropper. Calmer afternoons yielded some better midge hatches and emergers and nymphs did well. As always, the worm fished well for those willing to use it. The dry fly bite was marginal at best by most accounts. Saturday the  5^th we had heavy winds and hail in town. Dan was demonstrating how to tie and fish his Delektable Chubbyness patterns at the Ennis Fly Fishing Festival. Despite the unseasonal weather, the turnout was great. We still don’t know who won the boat though! I feel like it was me, and perhaps they dialed the wrong number?                                                                                           

Any who. Sunday into Monday was the turnaround in terms of weather. As the week progressed, the weather got warmer. It was sort of chilly each morning, but spectacular by the afternoon. The 12^th was downright hot.  It was the kind of weather that reminds you why you vacation or live in Montana during the summer. The fishing stayed good, but the fish backed off the sculpin patterns a bit. Small nymphs were the ticket with soft hackles, Princes, Bird’s Nests, Delektable PT Spankers, Worms, Pat’s Rubber Legs, Zebra Midges, small Zonkers, Bloody Mary’s and anything else  that was small and red. A few guides were successful with various hoppers, flying ants, crippled Royal Wulffs, and Chubbies.                                                                                                                                                                                       

But, looking outside as I write this, things are changing again. Barometric pressure is dropping, there are a few clouds and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get too warm today. The point of all my weather talk is that we seem to be fully into fall weather variations, and as fly fishermen, you have to be willing to adapt. With cool, wet weather expected this week I recommend dusting off your fall fishing gear. Waders, jackets, gloves, streamers and Glo-Bugs are all fair game. If you look outside this week and the weather looks bad, grab your rod and hit the river. This is the time to catch the fish of a lifetime. See you out there!

-Parker

The Beartooth Flyfishing Lodge has had yet another Father/son combo out on the river again recently. This is what we are all about here and teaching fly fishing to those who are searching for that peace and tranquility on the river is what we do. The Beartooth is especially fond of father/son combos as Dan Delekta loved fishing with his father all the way up to a few years ago. Travis and John were here with us today and they were just about as excited as any two people on this planet could be. Tim Gaar was their Madison River guide for the day. Tim has been with us for some time now and we considered him to be one of our go-to guys. John is 10 years old and from NC. He has never fly fished before this trip to Montana. The trio floated from Palisades to McAtee bridge. The fly combo they used that roped them in were a Black Pat’s Rubber Legs size 8, and a size 16 Delektable Big Spanker Olive Pheasant Tail.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Father landed 9 fish and John landed 3 to make an even dozen all together for the day! This kind of day is always a special day for us here because we get to see a younger person take on what we all love and embrace it:) thanks Tim for all your hard work! I hope you all get out and get some fishing in before it gets too cold! Happy Fishing Everyone!!! -DanG

The fishing has been fairly typical for the month of August. There are fair, good and excellent days of fishing to be had. It’s just a matter of timing. Note, I did not say ‘bad’ because we all know that there is no such thing as a bad day of fly fishing on the upper Madison River.

The smoke has cleared, but we are prone to the occasional haze when the wind switches to a more westerly angle. Fingers crossed as we knock on wood, but so far the Madison Valley has stayed clear of fire.

Mr. and Mrs. W showed up last week and they haven’t really left. Gusts to 50 MPH from up river have been common. This past week was a good one for kite surfing in the afternoon. The weather is a on a general cooling trend into Labor Day weekend.

Speaking of this weekend. The Ennis Fly Fishing Festival is back on the 4^th and 5^th. Check out the Madison River Foundation website for information on the event and schedule of activities and seminars. Remember to purchase your raffle tickets as well. This is your one and only chance to buy a $10 Clackcraft Drift boat and support the health and future of the Madison River. Dan Delekta will be on hand demonstrating how he ties some of his most proven patterns. You can catch him between 2-3 pm on Saturday.

Anyways, back to the fishing. The FWP is conducting some electro shocking on a consistent schedule through September. Check in with the shop each day to find out when and where.

It’s hard to tell you what type of fishing and what patterns have been working best because guides and recreational anglers have been using just about every one of our 5,000+ patterns. In the late summer, many things are happening that cause these trout to be tougher to catch. Anglers have to adapt to changing conditions, whether it be water temperature, sunlight, wind, barometric pressure or increased boat traffic. If you fish streamers, dries and nymphs and don’t mind changing flies frequently, you can quickly figure out which method of fishing is most productive on any given stretch of river.                                                                                           

A general rule of thumb for the variable conditions could be:

Warm, clear and windy – hoppers and flying ants with a dropper fished down the middle of the river should produce

Calm, clear and warm – small double dries or small double nymph rig

Cool, cloudy and calm –large streamers fished tight to cover in the morning, dead drifted scuplin and nymph/worm all day and midge patterns in the afternoon.

Cold, cloudy and windy – double nymph rig or sculpin fished close to the boat while sitting down with a beer in one hand and a fly rod in the other.                                                                                                                                                                      

Effective patterns this past week:

Dries: #12-16 Royal or Purple Delektable Chubbyness, #12 PMD Parachute Rusty Spinner, #12-16 Parachute Adams, #12-16 Purple Craze, #12-14 Fat Albert, #12 More-or-less Hopper, #12 Grandhopper, #16 Yeager 409, #16-18 Delektable Flying Ant

Emergers: #20 BWO Wonder Nymph, #18 Flashback Baetis, #16 Olive Soft Hackle Caddis, #20 Bat Wing BWO

Nymphs: #16-18 Delektable Sure Strikes, #16-18 Copper Johns, Ian’s Secret Black Stone, #8-12 Pat’s Rubberlegs, #18 Black Zebra Midge, #16-18 Delektable Hammerheads, #16 Lightning Bug, #8-18 Prince Nymph

Worms: #10 BH San Juan Worm, #8 Red Steel Worm, #8 Pink Delektable Hot Head Worm

Streamers: #6-8 Copper Zonkers, Sheila, Trevor, Sundell’s Badboy, White Delektable Screamer, Olive Buggers, Slump Busters, Mice.

-Parker

Last week was crazy for the sheer number of fish caught, especially the big ol’ fat ones. Rumors of two footers and the one that got away were being thrown around like an articulated mouse on a hot summer’s night. Sheila won over many hearts, and while some continue to doubt her power, all will soon be Sheilebers. If you don’t know who she is, come in and find out.                                                                                                                      

This week has been a repeat so far. The fish are responding well to many different patterns and the big fish continue to eat well. Dry or die folks have been succeeding with Parachute Adams, Purple Craze, PMD Rusty Spinners, Delektable Halos, Delektable Chubbyness,  hoppers, ants and of course the Nahgunatellyas. Droppers help though. Small beadheads, size 16-20 with some flash to them are working well. Consider Lime Serendipities, Lightning Bugs, Copper Johns, Shop Vacs, Delektable Sure Strikes, Pat’s Rubberlegs, Zebra Midges, BWO Wonder Nymphs, CDC Prince Nymphs and wire worms. 

By far, without a doubt, largest numbers and average size came with a streamer-dropper rig. Dead drifting under an indicator will produce many fish, but a tight lining with a dead – twitch-drag combination should help you figure out how they like it best. Get out there as early as possible. Less light and cooler temperatures will help your streamer game. If wading the edges early in the morning is your thing, try an olive or black articulated streamer fished tight to the bank. Everyone is saying we are “two weeks” ahead of schedule here on the Madison, which technically means the fall fishing is not far away. Look for big fish moving out of the lakes in the near future.                                                                                                    

–Parker