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 

Opening weekend was this weekend on the river and small creeks and it was prime condition for slaying!!! The West Fork is spitting out a little mud above Lyons Bridge, so it is a little murky making the fishing awesome. The guides were all out in full force as this section has been closed for most of the winter and spring. On Saturday, the bite was on right out the gate, and it never really stopped all day. Kelsey and I floated from Lyons to McAtee, I rowed while she cranked the browns and rainbows out of the mighty Madison into the boat. We started out with double stoneflies and did real well. We did get a few fish on the smaller nymphs but most of the fish were caught on the stoneflies. The rain has been steady throughout the weekend letting up a few times here and there. The fish were hungry and the rain didn’t bother the bite too much, so it was nothing short of epic for a first day!!!

Marty floated with Hienie on Sunday from Lyons to Ruby Creek. They had action in the morning on streamers, but it wasn’t hot enough for Hienie to keep stripping streamers:). Black was the streamer color that got them one nice fish. The Delektable Mega Prince and the Delektable Hurless Stone along with Pat’s Rubber Legs in sizes 6 and 8 were the best flies of the day. Later in the afternoon they started getting fish on pheasant tails and lightning bugs. Overall the weekend was a killer one. The patterns that worked are as follows: Size 6 and 8 Delektable Mega Prince, size 6 and 8 gray Delektable Hurless Stone, size 6, 8 and 10 brown and black Pat’s Rubber Legs, size 12 red threaded prince nymph, size 10 and 12 Delektable Pheasant Tail ‘Lil Spanker, size 14 Delektable Pheasant Tail Big Spanker, size 14 and 16 silver lightening bugs and pearl lightening bugs. Check out Harry with this nice one he got on an Adams dry! Meat ‘n taters! Happy fishing!!! -DanG