The 29^th, 30^th, 31^st and June 1^st was the peak of the runoff this year on the Madison River. The river was high and somewhat clear on these days because they flushed out of the damn at Hebgen the same time. When the river is on the rise it usually means the fish shut off. This was true until the 1^st of June when the river started a steady decline. At least the scenery is beautiful around these parts:)                                                                             

On Saturday the 6^th, the Executive Team that Mark brought in was almost all beginners, most were just learning, and they did very well. The bugs they used that were hot were the Delektable Lime Juice size 10, the Delektable Hammerhead (new Delektable bugs) and in prince and purple the Delektable Lil’ Spankers in red, purple and pheasant tail size 14 and 16. Of course, Pat’s Rubber Legs size 8 and 10 worked very well too. Take a look and see how they did!                          

As for right now, the river is fishing really really great! The damn below Hebgen Lake is putting out 1,520 cfs and the river is high and clear. It is a little over 2,000 cfs at The Old Kirby Place, and right around 3,000 cfs at Varney Bridge. As for the dry fly fishing, the bomber caddis is out in full force now. A big brown caddis in a size 10 seems to be the ticket for that. A great combo would be that and a big chubby chernobyl in front of it. If you are having trouble matching up the hatch with your flies, come on in the shop and grab some of our newest Delektable patterns we just got in. The bomber caddis is such a fun fly to fish because it is easy to see and, well, it’s a dry that they just absolutely smash! After all, isn’t dry fly fishing the reason we all got into the sport anyway?                                            

The big stonefly nymphs are moving towards the banks here on the Madison River, getting ready to crawl out and feed all the hangry browns and rainbows. This is the time of year where all the bugs start hatching and things start to get exciting. Yellow Sallies, PMD’s Bomber Caddis, Salmonflies, Golden Stones…Summer is finally here! The salmon flies are on the Big Hole River right now and our crew is getting ready to go over tomorrow and see what they can find. I can imagine it will be good:)!

Little Delektable Spankers in the red, purple and pheasant tail size 16 have been the ticket on the small side here. A size 12 prince nymph for the bomber caddis has been working well behind a big stonefly. Double stoneflies will get you there still. A Delektable Mega Prince or a Delektable Hurless Stone in size 8 and 10 will definitely get you there. Pat’s Rubber Legs sizes 8 and 10 are always a good to put fish in the net. A pink or red size 8 worm will be working with the higher water also.

In the streamer world, black and olive have been the two colors working for us. The silhouette that seems to be working best in the higher water has been a longer sculpin with a bit bigger head for pushing water. The fish are tight to the banks and sometimes sitting in the water on the grass where you would normally be walking because the water is up. Morning and evening has been the best time to rip streamers as the pressure is rising with the summer tourists moving in.                                    

Stay tuned for the Bighole River report in a day or so as Dan, Nancy and Marty are going tomorrow for the big bugsJ Enjoy the sun and nice weather because it is here to stay! The fishing is great and it’s the perfect storm for some epic fishing closing in quick!!!

Happy Fishing!!! -DanG

Hienie is the star of the season so far!!! We may dub him ‘angler of the year’ because of all the nice fish he has been catching all spring and summer. There would be lots more pictures of him and all his fish from the past couple of days, but there is just not enough time in the day for that nonsense:) The bugs that worked for him were stoneflies such as Pat’s Rubber Legs with a Delektable Lil’ Spanker behind it. The Delektable Lil’ Spankers that worked well were the olive, pheasant tail and red in sizes 14 and 16. Prince nymph was holding his own as well in a size 10 and 12. The one nymph to rule them all however, was the Delektable Lime Juice size 10 probably for the bomber caddis, which is about to pop any minute. Streamers were also on the list of flies that worked for Hienie as he absolutely slaughtered it with Joe Irons (a guide for Beartooth Flyfishing) over the past couple of days, great job Hienie!!!

-DanG

Hey everyone!!! Dan Greene here, reporting that Hienie and the boys are at it again!!! I hope you are all having the times of your lives fishing out there and catching lots and lots of beautiful fish! The weather has been epic for streamer fishing and the big nymphs as it get closer to the big bug season. The water coming out of the damn at Hebgen is about 560cfs today and the river is on the rise as the snowmelt starts to come down. As the river picks up a few more streams and little creeks, it rises a little more the further you go downstream. The river at Kirby Ranch (Old Kirby Place) is at 959cfs, and down our way here in Cameron is around 1620cfs today. The Madison River water levels are in great shape for the summer as the Hebgen Damn will be finished in July and the snowpack has yet to come down. The West Fork is spitting out a little more mud each day and that is a good thing for fishing the big stoneflies and streamers:)

The patterns have been pretty consistent the last couple of weeks with the big stonefly being the top dog, and the Caddis and March Brown not far behind. The Delektable Mega Prince olive and standard size 8 has been the go-to, with the Delektable Hurless Stone gray right below that as a trailer. The double stonefly combo has been the big fish catcher of the spring as it usually is. Other good patterns that have been working are the soft hackle patterns. These patterns often get overlooked and are sometimes even forgotten about. The softhackle, whether its CDC or Partridge feather, hold an air bubble that acts as a swimming emerging bug and is very very effective, even deadly at the right time of the day. Some of the ones we have been swinging are the copper john, the hare’s ear and of course the famous pheasant tail. We have many soft hackle patterns in the shop here that are considered “old” patterns, but still work very well and sometimes can be the only ticket at times during the day.

The streamer bite of course is pretty good in the morning and great in the evenings as the fish tend to move towards the edge of the river when the fishing pressure isn’t so bad and when the water is off color. All the colors of the spectrum in the streamer world have been good…because its spring:) White, Black and Olive have been the productive colors. The sculpins, dace and little minnows are what you are trying to mimic with your

streamers. The scuplin is a staple in the brown trout’s diet and it will chase it down and eat it if the opportunity is safe and looks good. Check out Kelsey with her nice brown on a white and gray streamer… killer fish face Kelsey!! Who says this is only for the boys?? As you can see, the stoke is at an all time high! I hope to see you all as the season drifts on and on and on…..get out there!!! Happy Fishing!!! -DanG

Today was a good day on the Madison for alot of people around these parts! Big Dan floated from Windy Point to McAtee Bridge with Woody and Ron. They were throwing streamers like Dan’s size 6 Delektable Christmas Tree in Black and in Brown/Yellow. the streamer bite was on so they did not change.                                                                            

Marty floated with Mushtaq and Bruce from Lyons Bridge to Ruby Creek and caught fish on the Pat’s Rubber Legs size 10. Marty had his clients casting other patterns to try, but the Pat’s Rubber Legs was the ticket all day.

Brandon floated with Taylor and Scott, a Father son duo that was very dangerous for a trout to be around. They Also got into the fish with Pat’s Rubber Legs sizes 8 and 10. They also encouraged the fish into the net and boat with caddis and mayfly nymphs.

I went out in the evening and picked up a few browns on the streamer and it was good. The best color combo was an olive/white/gray marabou streamer I tied. Good luck and Happy Fishing Everyone!!! -DanG