Salmon Flies and Goldenstones have left the building but the river is still on fire.
Caddis and PMD dry flies and nymphs have been dominating the bite this last week. The hatches are even in the shop and we can’t keep the cases clean from the hatch action. The afternoon PMD Rusty Spinners are out there. Sallys are out. You will also see some olive Flavs in the afternoon into the evening. A Purple Haze can work for that.
Many of the guide trips are starting early in the morning as it gets pretty hot mid afternoon. Small nymphs have been the choice of many guides, but the evening caddis and mayfly dry fly action has been outstanding.
Mice are working in Russia and Alaska right now, but not so much on the Madison. Larger Caddis and Mayfly patterns have been producing larger fish, but oh…don’t forget about the midges! Sizes 16 and 18 on Caddis Dries are a good start and 14-16 for mayflies.
Stories abound from what happened to Howard, guiding a group of women, and he leaped out of the boat and something happened where he is now showing a lot of leg. He returned to our shop to purchase new fishing pants. It was good for a laugh.
Okay, Elle’s Trout cookies were a hit this week and shown in addition to the nice trout catches.
Father and Son, Mike and Mike, had a great week learning the freestone techniques as compared to smaller streams in the east. It was fun.
Our dear friends and brothers, Steve and Jim Geil came to visit again this year with a friend, John. They had some really unforgettable fishing days with awesome catches and numerous fish that got away too. It was a really fun week and great to see our friends.
Bobby and Gail were back from Louisiana and had some fun on the Upper Madison.
The Fully Wild group and others did hit some late afternoon storm action. They still caught fish but we experienced a change in the action just after the storm.
There have been some reports of spruce moths up around the Pine Butte area and patterns imitating both Caddis and Spruce Moths have been producing lots of fish.
Kay, Liz, Martha and Cecily had a bunch of fun with Howard and Randy and the ladies really caught some nice fish.
July on the Madison is an awesome time! Come on out, have a few cold ones, and forget the waders in the car. It’s HOT! Happy fishing!
John and Nancy