For the upcoming weekend, plan your fishing wisely--at least based on the forecast for Saturday. High winds are predicted all day on Saturday so if you want to fish the Lower Madison, consider fishing it in Bear Trap Canyon. A float could be windy, but if the wind doesn't come Saturday, the Lower Madison has been fishing well. Once the front comes in--predicted by Sunday morning, it should be GAME ON for ideal Blue Winged Olive and streamer conditions.
And, the Lower Madison has been fishing well for anglers wanting to head-hunt rising trout on dry flies. The streamer bite has been ok and our Montana fly fishing guides have reported the best action occurring when slowly stripping or dragging streamers. Be sure to add a dropper nymph off any dragged streamer. This often times can increase catch rates.
Our guides have been reporting strong hatches of Blue Winged Olives hatching and most reports say that the BWO bite is best in the mid day. The fish are definitely looking for big pieces of meat including crayfish and baitfish. Stripping streamers is productive with cloud cover and nymphing something big like a zonker or crayfish trailed by a small attractor nymph or baetis nymph can be deadly. Pay attention to the water where you are pulling fish out of and then search for similar water to establish a pattern. Trout are on the move this time of year so the water you found them in yesterday may not be where they are a few days later as temps continue to drop. The fish haven’t seen a lot of flies all summer so heavier tippet is fine such as 3x to the top fly and 4x to the bottom.
Flies for the Lower Madison River Right Now:
Parachute Purple Haze in sizes 16-20
Lightning Bugs in sizes 16-18
Sawyer PTs in sizes 18-22
Clouser crayfish in size 8-12
Little Spankers in sizes 18-20
Rainbow Warrior in sizes 16-18
Zirdle in sizes 6-12
Sparkle Minnows in bright colors in sizes 2-6
Home Invaders in purple or olive in sizes 2-6
The Month Ahead:
The Lower should continue to fish well for the next few several weeks. It is a favorite option of many of our fishing guides in the fall. As we move into late October and November egg patterns should be considered as an option behind a streamer or crayfish pattern. With the water temps on the Lower Madison back to a good range for feeding trout expect the river to come back to shape pretty quickly. The Lower Madison is known for some great fall Blue Winged Olive hatches as well as some October caddis. Streamer anglers likely need to wait a little longer for the weeds to die off otherwise you are going to be mostly de-weeding the entire time.
Long Term Fishing Forecast:
We made it through another summer on the Lower Madison! That means we will enjoy another great late fall and winter on the Lower Madison for an ideal local option for anglers in Bozeman and Big Sky. The Lower is a decent winter fishery. Trout will slide into the deeper slower runs as water temps drop off.
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