Don’t let a little rainy weather dampen your spirits—the fishing around West Yellowstone is absolutely firing right now, according to Madison River Outfitters! While recent showers have given us a few damp days, they’ve also brought spectacular breaks in the weather that have the trout looking up and feeding aggressively. From the highly anticipated arrival of the Upper Madison salmonflies to glassy lake action and explosive dry-fly bites on the Gallatin, there is plenty of incredible water to fish this week. Grab your rain jacket, check the latest flows below, and let’s dive into where you need to be casting right now.
MontanaFlows
Hebgen Outflow – 699.2 CFS
Kirby – 920 CFS
Cameron – 1120 CFS
(Flows as of the evening of June 25th)
Upper Madison
Even with these bits of rainy weather, the Upper has been fishing very well! Breaks in the showers bring risers eager to eat just about anything you put in front of their nose, but I have had the best luck throwing a smaller sparkly chubby or chocolate caddis. I spotted a salmonfly in the wade section on Thursday, along with plenty of shucks, so it should be any day now when they are thick in the air (fingers crossed).
Nymphing, although it feels wrong when the dry fly bite is this good, is undeniably productive, especially when the rain makes it hard to spot your dry. Throwing something caddis-y or with some sparkle worked well for me!
Dry Flies – Fools Gold, Jakes Yellow Sally, CDC Elk Caddis, Parachute Adams
Nymphs – Any Dip, Flashback Olive, Shop Vac, Sunburst Perdigon
Hebgen/Quake Lake
Before the rain rolled into the valley, the dry fly fishing on the lake was getting very productive; this is still true if you can find a break in the weather and those callibaetis and BWO’s begin to pop, fish will be targeting them fiercely. However, while getting out on the water and sneaking up on gulpers is a whole lot of fun- your best bet as this weather persists is chucking streamers or a chironomid nymphing rig out there.
Dry Flies – Parawulff Adams, Sprout Callibaetis, Parachute Adams
Nymphs – Ice Cream Cone, Opal Buzzer, Nugget, Zebra Midge
Streamers – Hot Bead Leech, Crystal Bugger, Thin Mint
Yellowstone National Park Gallatin – I was able to get out on the Gallatin earlier this week and the river was in great shape. The water is running clear and cold, with clouds of goldens, caddis, and a few salmonfly in for good measure. Those feisty ‘bows were actually jumping out of the water for just about every dry I put in their general vicinity. Cannot personally report on the best nymph patterns, but they should eat well regardless.
Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon – As I stated last week, the rivers on the west side of YNP are just too dang hot to fish for the foreseeable future. The Firehole has officially reach 80 degrees consistently, with the Madison and Gibbon (below the falls) following the same pattern. Just fish the Upper or the Gallatin!
Northeast Corner – Still just a bit too fast for my taste. Should be ready to fish in a week or so though, if this rain doesn’t blow the rivers out.
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Montana Fishing Reports
