The Upper Madison has been fishing good. With all the recent storms and cloud cover, the streamer bite has been awesome in the mornings. After the morning streamer bite has subsided, the Hopper-Dropper rig has been the best bet. For droppers, anything small and flashy will get the job done: Split-case pmd’s, Green Machines, $3 dips, purple deaths, goblins, copper johns, prince nymphs, Perdigons, worms, shop vacs, black & brown rubber legs, and your favorite caddis pupa are all good bets. Ants have also been in abundance on the Upper so fish are keying into those dropped off of a Hopper as well. One of the most underrated fly on the upper is a sunken ant. There has been a lot of big brown trout caught very early in the morning on big streamers as of late. Streamer color has been variable lately, but typically black and olive are great colors on cloudier and rainy days and yellow and white are our favorites for those sunny days.
**Hoot Owl restricitons have gone into place the entire reach of the Madison River, from the mouth of the Missouri river, to where the Madison starts in Yellowstone National Park **
FLY PATTERN SUGGESTIONS
Dries| Renegades: 14-18, Griffith’s Gnat: 16-18-20, Z-Lon Midge: 20-22, Matt’s Midge: 20-22-24, Tan, Olive, Royal, Pteronarcys Chubby Chernobyl Morrish Hopper; 6-12, CFO Ant; 14-16, Amys Ant; 10-14, Water Walkers; 10-16
Nymphs| Mega prince: 8-12, Delektable Hurless: 6-10, Lil’ Spanker Gold Purple or Red: 16-18, Lightning Bug Purple or Silver: 16-18, SH Thorax Bead, Tan: 14-16-18, SH Copper John: 14-16, Nymphicator: 16-18, Green Machine PT: 18-20, King Prince:12-16, Coppertone: 6-8, Pat’s Rubberlegs: 6-8-10, Copper John Black and Blue: 16-18-20, Green Machine: 16-18-20, Crystal dip: 16-18 Three Dollar Dip:16, Worms: 12-16, Rainbow Warrior; 16-18, Split-case pmd’s, pmd perdigons, and folds-over pmd’s
Streamers| Smoke N Mirrors Cream #4, Sparkle Minnow Smoke #4, Complex Twist Bugger White Size #4, Sex Dungeon Rust, Yellow, Black: 2 Silvey’s Sculpin Black: 2 Conehead JJ Special: 2-4 Home Invader Yellow, White: 2 Zonkers White, Olive, Natural/Copper: 4-6, Double Screamer Streamer Olive/Black: 2 Circus Peanut Olive: 2 Sculpzilla Black, Dark Olive, Natural: 4-8, 2 Dolly Llama white, 8 Baby Gonga white
