Author: Steve Price

Today  Captain Marty took Roger Shott (Roger Dodger) out on the mighty Madison river from McAtee Bridge to Varney Bridge. Roger threw dries out of the boat all day. The first part of the morning was exceptionally better than the rest of the day, but it did pick up a little bit more towards the end down by the cottonwood trees. Roger hooked most of his fish on Dan Delekta’s Delektable Royal Chubbyness size 16. The size 14 did catch the bigger fish of the day but the 16 proved to be the one to bring them to the surface more. They threw Purple Haze, Adam’s, the Ant and other dries, but they seemed to only want the Delektable Royal Chubbyness. Roger is a dry or die kinda guy, so the dry fly was flying high in the sky! Fish did come to the surface all day long for the dry, and even tho they didn’t get the biggest of fish, they caught fish most of the day:) Either way you look at it, the sun did come up and Roger and Marty got to breath the fresh Montana air all day long! I hope to see you and YOUR fish pictures, so come on in and share your day with US! Happy Fishing Everybody!!!            -DanG

The Fully Wild group was out again this week and though they had to keep dodging the rain to stay dry, the fish were still cooperative. Bug selection is going to be across the board and a little scarce these days as we start into the first week of August.                         

The boys threw streamers, nocturnal stones, spruce moth patterns and of course the fabled girdle bug. the Streamers that worked the best in the stormy weather today was the size 8 Copper Zonker. Some nice fish were on the streamer bite with no surprise. The nocturnal stone pattern that was working was a Golden Chubby in a size 12. A few good fish did come up and look it too, but were a little wary of the bug on top. The fish are really getting used to seeing the big bug and might need a little twitching incentive to get them to commit. Spruce moth patterns have been doing good too. The spuce moth pattern we have been doing good on is Dan’s Delektable Twisted Baby in tan/brn size 14.                                                                      

Also the Pat’s Rubber Legs in the black/brown and brown/olive size 10 was a bug of choice as usual, imitating the sub-surface nocturnal stone. there was lots of rain around but they didnt get hit to bad and managed to steer pretty clear of the bulk of it. I hope you are out there enjoying our beautiful Madison River for yourself! Although the weather says the temps are going to climb, the water will keep falling from the sky whenever it wants, so bring your rain gear and be well prepared. Happy Fishing Everyone!!!

-DanG

The end of July has been interesting for some. The word ‘inconsistent’ comes to mind for a lot of the regulars around here. There have been excellent days for high quantities of smaller fish and excellent days for lower quantities of large fish. The best news of all is that the dry fly action seemed to take over take the sub-surface regime we all seemed to be stuck in during the middle of the month.                                                       

With that said, there were a few days of relatively slow fishing compared to what we are used to during July. By  no means was the fishing bad, but it took a lot of work to get them hooked.  Presentation was more important than fly selection. Nocturnal stoneflies, caddis, PMDs, ants and some baetis during cloudy and cooler afternoons were common. Chubby Chernobyls, flying ants, small Purple craze/haze,  Yeager Never-sink Trudes and the Delektable Twisted Sister were top producers for dry flies. Sub-surface flies were all over the board. Anything small and flashy produced fish with silver being a top color. Also, slender bodied sculpin patterns produced some solid fish on overcast days.                                                                                           

July 25^th and 26^th were exciting for us at Beartooth. We hosted the annual Montana Hope Project fundraiser at our shop with Captain Marty cooking up his finest batch of authentic Louisiana gumbo. He did not disappoint and neither did our generous customers who showed up to support this wonderful cause. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Montana Hope Project, please take a look at their website, here. Their efforts go towards something that is truly special for critically ill children and it is never too late to support them.
Happy Fishing and enjoy the rest of your summer!!!!                      -Parker                                                           

When you catch a fish that is almost the size of you…you need to take a nap! Conrad Morrill hangs out with his dad, Dan Morrill, one of our great guides here on the Madison River. It is that time of year where to weather is perfect to go out and play on 0the river with yer family! Hope you all are enjoying the sun and nice warmth like Conrad and Dan! Happy Fishing!!! -DanG                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

A day with Captain Cain-garoo!

Reva and Alan went out with one of our very great guides here on the Madison, Randy Cain. They had a very successful day you might say! The fish were eating and the hammer was brought down! Great job guys! Its cloudy right now and the weather is perfect for throwing bunny with a dropper. Get it while its good!                                                                       

DanG

The past couple weeks have seen an abundance of insect hatches with Caddis, PMDs, various other Mayflies, Yellow Sallies and a few Nocturnal Stoneflies in the mix as the primary food source for our trout.                                                                                            

There have been some epic days of dry fly fishing using PMDs, Parachute Adams, Purple Haze, Caddis, Ants and small attractor patterns such as the Delektable Chubbyness. There have also been some slower dry fly days, and many of us have turned to adding small nymphs about 3 feet under the dry fly or using two small nymphs with a small split shot. Most notably productive nymph patterns have been the Psycho Prince, Delektable Sure Strikes, Copper Johns, Red, Purple, Gold and Silver Lightning Bugs and the Delektable Hammerhead. Small Girdle Bugs in different colors have also come back into style after a brief hiatus following the salmon fly hatch. Split shot above the flies has allowed anglers to get down quickly behind rocks and into the buckets where fish seem to be lying in the middle of the day.                                                      

 

The weapon of choice for a lot of us though has been the streamer/nymph combo. An effective approach has been to cast dark sculpin patterns and various nymphs close to the bank, giving it a couple quick strips into deeper water where you can mend and dead drift through the buckets, eventually allowing it to swing across. This has produced good numbers and some quality fish. Ants and Hoppers should be just around the corner.

I hope you are enjoying all the fish porn…because its just going to keep going…Keep scrolling.                    

It’s a good time to Go fishing! So….GO:)                                                                                                                                     -Parker

Marty Authement is our number one guide after Dan Delekta out of the shop here at the Beartooth. He is from Homa, Louisiana as some of you know from a redfish trip or two with him. He is one of our best trout guides here! (he can also catch whitefish too:) Britt and Suzanne found out just how good Marty can be at getting people on fish today! The bugs were size 12, 14 and 16 caddis and mayfly dries of royal colors. The nocturnal stone is about to be in full swing here in a minute er so, so get your big, dark bugs out again and get ready for that wingless little fast runnin’ stonefly! I hope you all are having a killer summer, do swing in the shop and say hey if you get the chance! Great job Britt and Suzanne!!!      Happy Fishing!!!                  -Dang

The Boys Are Back In Town

Mike, Steve and Jason were here. Fact. Nancy showed them how to catch fat rainbows while Dan and the boys got weird.                                                                                              

-DanG

A Late Father’s Day Duo                                                                                                    Today was another awesome day on the Madison for two of our fine clients. It was a fine partially sunny day on the river and the fish were in good spirits eating dries and nymphs. All was well on the Maddy.                                                                                                                  

The fish that were caught were very fine, healthy fish and made Pa and Son very happy. They caught them on dries such as the Royal Cripple sizes 16 and 18, and Dan’s Delektable Royal Chubbyness size 16. Nymph bite was on too with PMDs being the  main drag. A size 14 Lemon Drop was the ticket there. When all said and done, Marty was the man, again, and Matt & Ken were two very happy, satisfied clients we like to call our friends! Happy Fishing Everyone!!!

DanG