Madison River

[crimedog]

has anyone been up and fished the Maddison River recently. Any info would be great. We are usually down around Lion and 3 dollar bridge

[LandGuppy]

Yeah, we just got back Sunday from a float in that area. We started about 15 miles south of Ennis and ended up almost in town. We went with a guide from Arrick's in W. Yellowstone.

The day we went, it was cloudy, rainy, and windy. In fact, they said it was the windiest day in 10 years. The fish didn't mind, though.

In the morning, I fished a foam hopper with a large olive elk hair caddis on a 12" dropper. Caught a few on the ehc, but no takes on the hopper. After an hour, it was too windy to cast a dry, so we went nymphing.

The first nymph rig was a #4 black rubber legs on top, with a BH hare's ear below. I got lots of fish around midday, some on each fly. The trout mostly took the rubber legs, and the whities were hitting the hare's ear.

In the afternoon I switched to a #6 golden stone nymph with a black flashback PT. There weren't tons of fish on the stone, but the ones that took it were serious fish. I took a 21", 5 lb. brown on that, the largest brown our guide had seen in the Madison this year. My wife also hooked up a 20" bow on the PT, which took to the air at least a dozen times before it straightened her hook (yeah, for real). Later in the evening, a caddis emerger did some good.

The water is down again in a big way, and the fish are pooled in the deeper runs. Don't waste your time on the shallow riffles. Those fish are so strong; use 2x with a 3x dropper. It seems like overkill, but you'll need every ounce of it. Good luck.

[Utah DaveII]

Fished 3 dollarbridge and the area above west fork. Did well in the morning on Black rubber legs on point with a prince nymph or shop vac on the back. I had a blast and got quite a few fish. Also picked up a few fish on Guide serendipidies and Copper John's. In the evening caddis dries worked well as well as Shop vacs.

If you don't know the flies stop by blue Ribbon flies in W. Yellowstone and they will set you up.