The salmon flies are out in full force here on the Madison River. The hot weather has the bugs out all the way from Palisades to Ennis. The larger concentrations of bugs seem to be above Burnt Tree fishing access as they have almost moved past Ennis. The dry fly fishing got off to a pretty slow start with with bright sunny days and few of those salmon bugs actually hitting the water but it seems to be improving in a hurry. Big winds the past few days have made casting and rowing difficult but the bugs have been blowing into the river and the fish are starting to eat them better and better. Nymph fishing has been great most days. We have massive numbers of caddis, yellow sallies, golden stones and even a few PMDs. Even when the top water bite has been less than great, there are some really big fish being caught on the salmon fly dries by those who are dedicated enough to stick with it. Get it before its gone...This is the only time of year that you get to see Madison River trout crush the biggest dry flies in our box!
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How to Hit the Salmon Fly Hatch on The Madison RiverThis is sort of a Madison River fishing report and update on how to go about targeting the 2016 Madison River salmon fly hatch as well as salmon fly hatches on most rivers from year to year. There are a lot of factors that determine when the salmon flies will crawl to the banks and emerge on any given year. Whether you are fishing the Madison River or any other rivers that get salmon flies, the elements that trigger the hatch are basically the same. Weather, snowpack, stream flow and rain can all influence the timing and duration of a salmon fly hatch. However the number one thing to watch is water temperature. For the bugs to make their big move from water to land, the water temperature needs to hold at 55 degrees or above for a 24 hour period. Basically we are looking for night time water temperatures to stay above 55 degrees for a day or two. This will happen in different parts of the river at different times. Consequently, there will be a few early salmon flies on the bank before the real hatch and if the weather allows the river to warm slowly, the hatch will progress up river gradually. All of those other elements like weather, snowpack, stream flow and rain are things that we can watch to predict when the water is likely to climb to 55 degrees. On a big snowpack year, there will be cool water coming out of the mountains later into the season so the hatch will tend to happen later and last longer. High flows on dam fed rivers like the Madison river will keep the water cooler and delay the hatch. Lots of rain will have a similar effect and delay or prolong the hatch. However, the largest determinant of Madison River water temperature is the weather. Hot sunny days and warm nights are going to melt that mountain snow fast and warm the river in a hurry. When this happens, the river will warm quickly and the hatch will follow. Likewise, if it stays hot and the temperatures keep rising, the hatch will move up river quickly and may not last long. We always like a slow moving hatch that progresses up river gradually and gives the fish and anglers plenty of time to enjoy the salmon fly hatch. 2016 Madison River Salmon Fly Hatch Conditions...Our runoff on the Madison river is now more or less over. The river has cleared and dropped to the point where fishing is really good and getting better by the day. Cool days and nights are keeping the water temperatures down but the hatch is on its way. The flows are dropping steadily now that most of the high mountain snow has melted and within the next few weeks it should just take another push of really hot days to get some bugs moving. For now, flows are still on the high side and the water temperatures are still falling down to 50 degrees at night. Unless we see some really hot days in the next week, the hatch is probably not going to happen in the immediate future. I am guessing that it will be another 10 days but it depends on a lot of things so keep watching those temperature graphs!
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April 2019
AuthorCaptain Garrett Blackburn - Outfitter and guide on the rivers of southwest Montana. Categories
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