September 28th- October 9th | Madison River Fishing Report

So the episodes of Shark Week continue……

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These last weeks we have been waiting for the colder weather to come in and stir things up. Well, we got our wishes and the fish are all kinds of riled up now. Last week was a good start to the fall fishing and now it is in fullll… swiiiing!!!  We have been seeing some good sized fish in the last few days here. The streamer bite has been on and there have been some nice fish coming in and submitting to the net. The BWO and Baetis bite is on because of the colder weather too, so if you don’t like throwing streamers or big nymphs, you are still going to be satisfied with decent dry fly fishing! That being said, I would like to tell a quick dry story. Emmett and his father went out to throw nymphs. Big fish were lurking and looking up. Now, dad had his bobber get eaten by a decent sized fish a few times and so he told his son, Emmett. Dad: “what should we throw on?” Emmett: “Well, lets throw a salmon fly on.” So, in very late September they throw salmon flies on and…. well you guessed it…blaaam, they were into a few nice fish. Take a peak, its Shark Week!!! ….again.

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Now, before I get into the streamer talk (which is probly going to seem repetitive)img_0047-sm I’ll let you in on the guide bugs and whats working for them out there right now. The stones are crawling around and a Black Pat’s Rubber Legs in a size 8 will do just fine. There are a couple of different colors in that pattern that are also working very well, like Brown, Tan/Brown, Black/Brown and Olive/Black. The size is an 8 but a size on either side of that will do just fine also. Bend the shank to give it a much buggier look (and give you an up on yer buddies) 🙂 . Also, try a Twenty Incher Stone (it’s a peacock stone) in a size 8 or 10. As usual, the Delektable Mega Prince Standard size 10-8 is a good call for any stretch of the river, but especially the top end right now.  The rock pocket img_2686-sm img_2679-sm img_2683-sm img_2280-sm img_2285-sm img_1572-smpicking is spectacular above the Lyons Bridge Recreational Area all the way up to the Slide at Quake Lake. The Prince nymph in a size 12 has been a “go-to” with the guides here as well as a whole slew of small darker BWO/Calibaetis style nymphs. As for the streamer bite… all the colors are working, all of the silhouettes are slaying and all the rods SHOUUULD…theoretically and historically be…BENT!!! Some of the best colors have been olive and black combos on articulated streamers. Olive and Yellow has been really good too. Black, Black and Blue, Black and Purple, White, Silver, Tan and various colors of the natural spectrum have been doing well. That pretty much covers the rainbow huh? Well, if you are having trouble hooking up on the “straum” (streamer) and you want to quit and throw nymphs again, just take a look at these photos and rethink your decision. If you want to catch a fish on a streamer…you must first throw the streamer…in the water.             20161008_075633-sm 20161001_074804-sm

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I don’t want to give away all the secrets about streamer fishing to the world wide web, but if you would like to know a little more, please come on in and let’s have a ‘lil heart to heart eh? Please have a wonderful rest of your season and fish your brains out!!!img_20161005_223248-sm img_20161004_161505-sm

 

Happy Fishing!!!  _DanG

 

September 20-27, 2016 | Madison River Fishing Report

The Mighty Madison has a couple of weeks every year where it has the potential to be …. Shark Week! …and it’s now. Brown sharks… Sharks… Sharking. Sharks attacking streamers…

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This past week has been really quite awesome in regards to the streamer bite. All the leaves are in full bloom and raging yellows and reds and oranges. In corrilation, all the streamer colors are working. All of them. White has always been my favorite, but lately its been the olive/gold combo. This river is just full of streamer-eating, carnivorous, slimey, fattened up monsters now. The lakes (Ennis and Quake) are literally putting out, I mean puuuutting out right now.

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The float sections down near town have been really good this past week and seem to get better by the day. But then again, some of the big fish you see in theses pictures came from higher up. Some of us have been throwing only streamers and doing verrrry well. This is the time to do that if it’s not really been a strong point for you. Your chances are looking pretty good right now, just throw it in the water in the morning and you might be surprised. But do take a second to look at the colors on the trout before you slip them back in the water, they are just gorgeous!!! Also, take a look at a few of these photos and the colors they have been displaying!

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The streamers that have been hurled out here involve multiple articulations and/or stinger hooks. Trevor has been catching fish, Sheila has been catching fish, the Zonker has been catching fish, Mini Loop has been doing well and of course Dan Delekta’s Double Screamer in all the colors. Bow River Bugger has also been getting stripped outta the bins here at the shop. they are still eating the nymph really well too if stripping streamers is just not your thing. Some dries are even working yet. The Ant and even the Hopper are out in this late September weather. If your are a dry or die kinda guy or gal, you will still be matching up with BWO’s, Caddis and Midges in the 18-22 size range. The nymphs that most of the guides are going out the door with are getting back to the larger size.Try some bigger prince nymphs and bigger lightening bugs. It is about that time of year again where you are going to see the size 14 mayfly patterns working again. Well, there is the polished version. If you need more info and you just want to talk to us here at the shop, call us! If you are more lost than a Salmonfly in September (which does happen occasionally) call us and any one of us will be happy to point you in the right direction.                                  Happy Fishing!!!  -DanG