MADISON RIVER FLOWS 

West Yellowstone – 329 CFS

Below Hebgen - 913 CFS

Kirby - 1080 CFS

Varney - 1210 CFS 

A couple things to note:

1. Hebgen Lake is a foot from full pond and dropping due to increase flows in the Madison River. The Trout are thankful and honestly, so are the anglers.  Higher flows are a good thing for the Madison and help to spread out not only the fish, but the anglers and boats as well. 
   
2. Flows have bumped up in the last week, but its still lower than most years for this week in July at the Kirby Gage. It could easily be 150-200 CFS higher right now, but in a dry year like this one, we are sitting pretty well.  Be careful while wade fishing, where you waded last week is deeper and much more swift. Wear a wading belt with your waders for your own safety. 

BETWEEN THE LAKES

It's busy down BTL, and for good reason - this might be one of the most beautiful stretches of river.  And the fish like to eat flies, so that helps.  There are bugs galore down in this reach and the fish will respond eating mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.  However, they are getting picky and will refuse your dragging flies.  Fish a single dry fly for the best results.  Observe the river prior to jumping right in and banging your casts on the water.  Have a look around, what do you see? Are there bugs dancing in the air above the surface?  Those dancing bugs are mayfly spinners.  Are there bugs on the surface floating?  Are there caddis bouncing off the surface laying eggs?   Are there caddis rolling down the surface of the water?  All of these things are clues to what fly you should tie on the end of your line. Sit down and watch the river, it will give you clues as to what the fish are eating and that will change by the day and the hour depending on the weather and the hatches from the the days before. 

Tandem nymph rigs with caddis larva and mayfly nymphs will be your most productive sub surface offerings.  There are still some stoneflies hanging around as well.  Patterns of choice here recently have been the 101 Stone from Cat3 or Heames’ Jig Rubberlegs in #8 or #10 paired with a #14/16 Redneck or Olive hot-spot perdigon hung below. For caddis larva and pupa - the AZ Hares Ear, Shop Vac or Blow Torch are great choices. 

Not into bobber fishing?  We don't blame you. Try swinging the Blow Torch or Soft Hackle PT for some high quality grabs.  Early morning streamer fishing can produce as well right now, streamers such as the Sparkle Minnow, BFE or Bouface Leech are working before the sun hits the water.  The dry-dropper rig is as effective option these days as anything. Hang any of these nymphs two feet below a Chubby and let it roll.

Mayflies and caddis are the main game down there for now, a classy way to fish is with a single dry fly - there will always be less drag on this set up versus the tandem dry fly rig. Patterns of choice are as follows - Chubbies of all sizes and colors (we like #14 and #10), #16 Chubbinator, #14 Iron X Caddis, #16 Elk Hair Caddis, tan X caddis, #12 & 14 Dark Missing Link, #14 Jojo Riffle Riser, #14 Yellow Missing Link, #14 PMD Sparkle Dun, #16 Jojo PMD, #12/14 Copenhaver Rusty or Cream Spinner, Jojo Rusty Spinner. Small Lawson's Golden Stones and Small Water Walkers should be in your box as well .

WADE SECTION

The Wade Section continues to fish well.  Raynolds and $3 are pretty darn busy and will remain that way, but that doesn't mean you can find a piece of water to fish.  Please remember to be courteous to your fellow angler and give others plenty of room to enjoy their day. 

Fish are hanging the their summer haunts - fast shallow riffles, soft pillows in front of boulders and edges close to the bank all have fish lurking around. The banks now have enough water on them and fish are hiding right were you step into the river.  Cover water quickly, slow down when you find a fish and observe the type of water said fish came out of.  Then find more of it! 

A skilled nymph fisherman might pick up more fish with a bobber, stonefly, a caddis larva/pupa or mayfly nymph - but is it really about quantity?  For those of us at BSA, dry fly fishing much more satisfying.  Watching a fish rise, and then stalking it with a single dry is at the top of the list for us.  But we also like hunting over pointing dogs, making deep powder turns in February, standing in the bow of flats skiff in May and listening to the Grateful Dead when time permits. 

Patterns of choice right now are as follows - Chubbies of all sizes and colors (we like #14/16 and #10), #16 Chubbinator, #14 Iron X Caddis, #18 Elk Hair Caddis, tan X caddis, tan Iris Caddis,  #14 Dark Missing Link, #14 Jojo Riffle Riser, #14 Yellow Missing Link, #14 PMD Sparkle Dun, #16 Jojo PMD, #12/14 Copenhaver Spinner in Cream or Rusty, #14/16 Paranymph and Jonathan's PMD Klinkhammer. 

FLOAT SECTION

The river is cruising right along and floats from Lyons to Ruby, Windy to Story or Ruby to Varney are much easier now that we have water in the river. The tribs in the valley are dropping fast, but are flowing cold.  Salmon flies are over and were short lived.  It was good while it lasted!  Goldens are still around here and there, but for the part they too are finished up.  Its now time to size down your flies and fish caddis, smaller mayflies and maybe an ant from time to time.  The Tan Caddis, aka Hydropsyche, are in full swing and hatching daily.  Its pretty darn good fishing down there and the dry fly fishing is solid.  The dry/dropper fishing is producing and a great way to start the morning until the bugs begin to hit the water.  Think sparsely dressed, fast-sinking droppers with a big tungsten bead. We’ve got a number of gnarly, 3.8mm bead perdigons in the bins that’ll do the trick — namely the Tungsten Jig Splitcase PMD in #14/16, and Roza’s Pink Hare’s Ear Jig in #14/12, Olive Hotspots, Shop Vacs, Prince nymphs, Pheasant Tail, AZ Hare's Ear, and Redneck’s in #14/16 will also fool plenty of fish. 

There is no time like the present to fish dry flies. #14 Elk Hair, #16 Compara Buzz, #14/16 Chubbies, #14/16 Chubbinators are great choices. A #12/14 Copenhaver rusty is a great choice as well as is Jojo's Rusty.  The banks water is finally starting to get sexy, get your fly into the bank, as deep as you can with a good reach cast and you will be rewarded. Do it all day perfectly and you will understand why we love the Madison River so much.  

If you haven't used the Fly Banjo combined with your favorite fly floatant, than you are truly missing out on the greatest little dry fly secrets there is.  

Respect The Fish 

1. Keep the fish wet at all times. 
2. Get out of the boat for fish pictures, if you need one. Take those pics quickly and get them back in the water.  
3. Release played out fish on the banks where they can safely recover. 
4. Be cool to other boats and wade anglers. Give plenty of room to other anglers. 
5. Drop anchor on or near the bank when you need to change flies or re-rig. Bouncing your anchor down the river is complete nonsense and frowned upon.