Flows:

Madison River below Hebgen: 688 cfs

Madison River @ Kirby Ranch: 1040 cfs

Missouri River below Holter Dam: 4480 cfs

Tale of the tape

The rivers in MT are rising…..so are the trout.  Run-off has begun across the entire state of Montana.  Some rivers will be in shape for another week, some are going to blow out big time with all the warm weather & precipitation and some, like the Missouri, will continue to fish extremely well.  The Missouri rose 400 cfs yesterday, and from the reports I got from Greg Falls, the fishing was good, but the dry fly fishing was a little off with the bump in flows. 

Greg and I have had a couple of cancelations as of late, and there are some prime spots that have opened up for the Missouri in June.  If you haven’t been to the Missouri River, do yourself a favor and come fish with us.  This year is proving to be one of the BEST seasons in 10 years.  Really, no bullshit, the Missouri’s trout are huge.  The fat is dripping off of them.  The average trout on the Mighty Mo’ is 18 inches…..did I mention they like to rise??? Mid-June through July is prime time….will you be there?

Blown

I took this photo with my phone a couple of days ago.  Cabin Creek flows into the Madison just below Hebgen Dam.  Both Cabin and Beaver Creeks are flowing like this.  Unreal.  The snow is coming out of the mountains and will be for some time now.  This mud will take a few days to blow out Quake Lake and once that happens, the Madison below Quake will blow out as well.  The West Fork is dumping in color too.  How long will the great fishing last, you ask???  Well, at least another four or five days.  If our weather cools off, then the mud won’t flow as much.  But lets get real here folks, it is time for the Madison to blow out with mud.  By mid to late June she should be clearing and the Salmonfly hatch will be days away. 

BUT, for the next few days, the Madison will continue to fish. The nymphing is great.  The dry fly fihsing is good. They will eat a streamer as well.  I drove down to $3 Bridge a couple of days ago and fished dry flies for about 2 hours.  Awesome it was.  There were a few anglers around, but it was not busy at all.  There are trout in skinny water, so fish up stream and just off the bank.  Take some time and watch those big slicks below the boulders….fish are rising in those.  There are BWOs and even a skawla or two.  Skawlas are not that common on the Madison, but they do live in the Madison River. Most folks don’t know that since the river is closed during their emergence, but trout will look for them weeks later….just like Salmonflies.

Opps....love the look on Glen's face.