out of Hebgen: 851 cfs

at Kirby: 959 cfs

Two days ago I guided the wade stretch and we had one of the best days of dry fly fishing I have seen all season long.  Spruce Moths and Spinners in the morning and then there were BWOs and PMDs all afternoon.  Each large boulder had 2-5 trout rising around it eating, gulping if you will. Oftentimes, on days like this, I dream of being able to fish myself.  I watch trout rise and wish that it was I who was holding the rod, striking the rise and feeling the tug.  The tug is the drug, so they say.  Most of us do what we do because of our love for the rise.  That may sound a little girly, but it is the honest truth.

Yesterday, I remembered why I love to fly fish with dry flies. My roommate, Drew, who is an outiffter as well, and I had the day off.  Normally we don’t get to hang out unless we are drinking beer and catching up from the days guide trip at 11 o’clock…pm.  We headed down the Madison below Quake after breakfast and coffee….I won’t say where, but those who know me well can probably figure it out.

We walked down stream and found a huge slick out in the middle of the river.  For shits and giggles we took turns shooting 50-60 feet of line with a reach cast to see if we could raise a fish.  4 fish, 4 drifts, but nobody was counting.  As we worked up stream with a single dry fly it seemed as if there was no place a trout wasn’t going to rise.  The big water, the skinny water, above the boulders, below the boulders - they wanted to eat our hoppers, spinners or moths and did with regularity for almost 6 hours.  There were a few tough fish that wanted to count legs and see the fly under a scope, but they did finally rise too.  We both missed a bunch of nice fish, but also landed more than our share of 16+ inch trout. 

By the days end, we were tired and sundrenched and made the long walk back to the car in silence.  The only word which was spoken was regarding the cold beer in cooler. The first one didn’t even count.

out of Hebgen: 851 cfs

at Kirby: 959 cfs

Our cool overnight temperatures have really helped the Madison stay in shape this summer.  With the lack of rain, things are getting pretty dry, but yesterdays river temp at Ruby was 62 degrees.  For mid August that is great.  The wind on the Madison has been ferocious as of late.  Yesterday we had a downstreamer that must have blown atleast a steady 30 mph with gusts to 40 or 50.  At noon today, Henry’s Lake has 2`foot swells and there is a constant 25 mph wind.  There is a rain storm coming in on the heels of this wind from the southwest bringing in some needed precipitation and colder daytime temps. 

The hatches are starting to taper off now, but you will find mayfly spinners in the mornings throughout most of the upper river.  Caddis are still around, just not in the numbers that they were a week ago. You will see Spruce Moths at Lyons, Windy Pt. and Palisades, but the trout are not paying as much attention to them.  Ants are the name of the game, and hoppers are triggering a few nice trout to rise each day.  We have yet to see any of the big honey ants which hatch from the ground.  One of these days, toward the end of August, these terrestrials will pour out of the ground in droves and make trout dumb as a bag of hammers……….

Out of Hebgen: 841 cfs

At Kirby: 959 cfs

Grasshopppers are out in abundance and on windy days you’ll find them floating naturally in the middle of the river and along the banks. Fishing the middle of the river with long drifts and twitching the hopper from time to time will bring some extremely aggresive strikes. Spruce Moths are starting to taper off a bit, but the trout are still willing to rise and eat our presentations.  There are ants in along the Willow banks and these terrestrials are a major part of a trout’s late summer diet.  The fishing has been slowing down around 3 in the afternoon…..but there are still fish rising after 3, and anglers need to pay close attention as these trout are super sneaky and will actually grab the legs of a hopper to submurge it before eating it.  There are tons of little fish (2-8 inches) eating dry flies all day.  The big fish are there, but most of them eat when the sun is rising and setting.  There are large trout eating throughout the day, but they have become harder to catch.

 Finally, about 3 days ago, PPL decided to put some more water in the river. They bumped it from 757 to 841.  I guess that water skiing and floating boat docks are more important than the health of a fishery. Don’t get me wrong, I like water sports, but there is plenty of H2O in Hebgen for water skiing and a foot or two less isn’t gonna hurt it.  We have recieved some rain showers and cooler weather as of late, but more water would make the fish happy….and please a few anglers as well. We can’t always count on Mother Nature to help out………that is why there is a dam to hold the water.

If you would like to email PPL to voice your concern on the water level in the Madison please do: leelias@pplweb.com,

Out of Hebgen: 767 cfs 

At Kirby: 926 cfs

The Madison continues to fish well and at this rate we will continue to have dry fly fishing for the rest of summer.  Twitching hopppers has been fun and so has the spruce moth hatch.  I saw Salmonflies at Pine Butte and near Standard Creek two days ago.  Amazing to say the least.  Most of the old timers around here can’t remember a Salmon Fly hatch that has lasted this long.

 Today I put in at Lyons at 8 am and had incredible dry fly fishing until we got hit with the wind and rain at the Swallow Cliffs.  40-50 mph gusts up and down stream and blowing cold rain came in quick and hung out long enough to make us push for the ramp.  There were big fish rising today to eat hoppers, ants, moths and just about what ever you wanted to throw. August is shaping up to be one of the best I have seen in recent years.  I can’t wait to fish one of these days when I get some time off from guiding….maybe Monday or Tuesday.

 The mountains are still green and it feels like early July.  Hebgen Lake is full and for some reason PPL is holding back the water.  It would be nice to see another 200-300 cfs in the river since the temps around Ennis have hit 70 degrees from time to time in the last week.  It is August after all…..what is PPL waiting for?

Hebgen Lake is calling my name.  If the winds hold back there are fish up everyday on the lake.  I had a day off about 8 days ago and fished the lake with Jon and John.  For about an hour we had fish everywhere and they were fairly dumb, rising to JC Spinners and Cripples in the shallow water. 

Stay tuned for more updates.  I have been extremely buys this last month and finding time to write more reports has been tough.

The flow out of Hebgen is 1100 cfs, up from a few days ago at 860.  The float stretch is crusing along at 1430 cfs which makes fishing dry flies from the boat very enjoyable.  The fish are healthy and continue to eat both sub surface and above. I was on the river 19 out of the 23 days and I must say that the trout are willing to rise….if you let them eat it.  Teaching someone how to set the hook can be difficult at times.  Some fish slam the H E double hockey sticks out if it and others inspect the fly for a leg count and a wiggle.  When it comes to decision time with setting the hook, all I can say is that there is no substitution for time on the river.  Just keep trying, at the very least you are drifting your fly the way they like it. That says alot in my book.

Watch out for afternoon thundershowers and hail storms throughout the entire Madison Drainage.  They may only last a few minutes, but scarey it can be.  Gortex raincoats are a worth their weight in gold when those storms roll in as well as an extra layer in the boat.  Greg and his clients hid under a tarp for a while to avoid the deluge that put four inches of rain in his boat just a few day ago from Ruby to Varney.

Stayed tuned for more reports from the Madison…..there are still Salmon Flies and Goldens cruising most of the river from Palisades to Hegben Lake.