Stoneflies Archives - Beartooth Flyfishing

May 23rd- May 29th Upper Madison Fishing Report

The first signs of Runoff have hit the Valley. However, it has been slow and gentle so far. Inconsistent weather conditions in the Valley have continued throughout this week. The River is showing a distinct striping from the West Fork down. Further towards Varney and into Town we are seeing a complete off-color River. This happens to be perfect for fishing bigger Stoneflies and Nymphs, flashier droppers with larger diameter Tippet. Above the West Fork we have started to see Fish stacking up in holes and the Streamer Slinging has started to be productive!! We have had reports of 20-30 fish days on the Streamer, Slingers’ your time has arrived! The River started the week at Kirby at 650 cfs and gradually rose through the week to 1,080 cfs; at Cameron we saw a similar trend with the water at 860 cfs early in the week and it ended at 1,820 cfs. We are seeing this influx of water coming from our tributaries (West Fork, Indian Creek, Wolf Creek, Cabin Creek, Beaver Creek, Standard Creek, Moose Creek & Sheep Creek) rather from Hebgen Lake. We are very grateful to have a dedicated dam operators that are doing all that they can to conserve as much water as possible at Hebgen to keep our beloved Madison with healthy flows all Summer long! The weather that we have had this April & May has really been a life saver, we are currently sitting at 130% snowpack!! This coming week we should be seeing more rain and mid 60-degree weather, however with the cooler nights we are predicting to see a continuation of this week’s water conditions and continued fishable water!! Come see us and let us help you with your bug selection and gear, and we provide Free delicious Dark Roast Coffee and chat about Epic Fishing Days!!!

Nymphs: Delektable Mega Prince STD FB #6-#8, Delektable Hurless Stone Grey or Olive FB #6-#8, Delektable Lil’ Spanker Silver/Pheasant Tail #12-#16, BH Delektable Prince Brandon #10-#16, BH Shop Vac #14-#16, BH Hot Orange Pheasant Tail #14-#18, Delektable Hammerhead GTBH Hare’s Ear #14-#16, Delektable Stoner Egg Head Spark Plug Black/Brown #6, Delektable BH Black Stoner #6, Lightning Bug Silver #16-#18, Delektable Stonefly Candy UV Brown/Gold #4-#8, Pat’s Rubberleg Brown or Black #4-#8, Tungsten BH Jiggy Blow Torch #14-#16, Delektable Hammerhead GTBH Jighead Halo Green #14, Delektable Worm Red #8, Wire Worm Orange/Red #6.

Dries: Delektable Mega2Tone Chubbyness Royal #8-#10, Purple Haze Parachute #16-#18, Geppert Crystal Dip #16-#18, Parachute Adams #16-#18, BWO Para-Sipper #18-#20, Three Dollar Crystal Dip GB #16, Delektable BWO Teaser #18, Delektable Royal Squeezer #18-#20.

Streamers: Coffey’s BH Sparkle Minnow Sculpin #6, Delektable Screamer Single or Double Olive, Yellow, Black, or Spawning #8, Zonker Natural/Copper #6-#8, Sculpzilla Olive #8, Sparkle Minnow Fish Skull Black #8, Slump Buster Black #8.

June 7th 2016| Big Hole River Fishing Report

This week called for a change of scenery as Dan, Marty, Will and Emmett headed up to the Big Hole to fish the Salmon Fly hatch and Golden Stones. Fishing on the Big Hole the past two weeks has been great. Clarity and river flow have been ideal for the hatch and those fishing have had big trout to show for it.

Will and local guide Nick Argyrakis with his sister Lia floated the 11-mile drift from East bank to Jerry Creek. It was Will’s 21^st birthday so a celebratory drink or two was in order to start of the day. Weather conditions were just about perfect. Since the salmon fly hatch was on, it only made sense to start with a Delektable Mega2Tone Chubbyness UVSalmon Fly #8 with a Goldenstone Tungsten Bead #8 following. It was important to find the willows and fish your dry right under and beside the grassy banks. Other recommended flies that worked that day were; Delektable Secret Stone Royal size #8, Delektable Chubbyness Little Yellow Stone size #16, Delektable Hammerhead GTBH Pheasantail #16 and Delektable Hammerhead GTBH Hare’s Ear #16. Overall it’s hard to beat cold beer on the river, great conditions and fish in the boat.

Dan, Marty, and Emmett got away on the same day to the Big Hole to fish the big dries. They did a double float from East Bank down to Divide. Everything was hatching, but there was only an occasional rise for a natural dry. Remember you can cast blindly with a dry, and get a rise by teasing the fish with a fly. There were some, but not too many big bugs out on the upper part of the float. We did not see any in the canyon. The fish were mostly eating the Delektable Secret Stone, and the Mega 2Tone Chubbyness. It took time and effort to get the fish to bite, but it was totally possible to do. Some of the group were twitching their flies, while others were just dead-drifting them. Most of the fish were biting in the slow water near the banks, and in the buckets. They caught many different species of fish including Rainbows, Whitefish, Cutthroats, Brown Trout, and Brookies.

Emmett & Will

March 11, 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

I just had to take advantage of the Upper Madison being open year round again. The wind being low and temperatures in the 50’s; time to grab my wading staff and sample some deeper buckets. The flies that caught fish included: Delektable Flashback Mega Prince #8; Delektable Flashback Gray and Purple Hurless both #8; Delektable Flashback Mega Prince Olive #8; and of course Delektable Soft Hackle Red Worm #8.

The bite was sweet in the deeper buckets around boulders. Two guide boats past me floating from Windy Point to McAtee. The four clients seemed pretty happy to be out on a nice day. My personal mission is to fish at least one day a week the rest of the year.

Go Fishing when you can…..

Dan