It's almost here...the Madison River salmon fly hatch. The salmon fly hatches on the Henrys fork, Rock Creek and The Big Hole rivers have all but passed and now we are hoping to see a solid Madison River salmon fly hatch this year. The salmon flies are not out yet on the Madison river but lots of those big size 4 black and brown nymphs are making their way to the banks.
The water on the river right now looks prefect...a little high, green in color but has plenty of clarity. These conditions can make for great salmon fly fishing. The high flow keeps the fish pushed to the banks where the bugs are and gives them little time to analyze those big orange foam dries. Some green color to the water has the same effect.
What causes the hatch and when will it happen? The hatch is almost entirely triggered by water temperature. I usually look for the water temperature to hold above 55 degrees for several nights. The temperature graph below shows our current state on the Madison river at Varney Bridge. You can follow this at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv?site_no=06040000. It looks like we are almost there so we should be seeing bugs soon.
The water on the river right now looks prefect...a little high, green in color but has plenty of clarity. These conditions can make for great salmon fly fishing. The high flow keeps the fish pushed to the banks where the bugs are and gives them little time to analyze those big orange foam dries. Some green color to the water has the same effect.
What causes the hatch and when will it happen? The hatch is almost entirely triggered by water temperature. I usually look for the water temperature to hold above 55 degrees for several nights. The temperature graph below shows our current state on the Madison river at Varney Bridge. You can follow this at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv?site_no=06040000. It looks like we are almost there so we should be seeing bugs soon.
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