Regional view of Southwest Montana’s Fishing Reports

THE MONTANA SAMPLER – THREE DAYS THREE RIVERS

We fished the Beaverhead, Madison, and Big Hole rivers in three successive days July 7, 8, and 9.  This little tour is a great sampling of Montana’s classic trout streams.  We would have gone for five rivers and included the Jefferson and Ruby but those rivers were running high, wide, and dingy so we will postpone that leg of the trip.  Here is a summary of our days on these spectacular waters.

The “Beav” July 7, 2010

The Beaverhead has been fishing bonanza since the season opened in May,  particularly from the dam to high bridge where multiple fishermen have been taking large numbers of big trout daily….I’m talking big!  Get on the TLA 2010 photo gallery and you can see some of these hogs.  The great fishing has resulted in great numbers of anglers on that stretch so; we went low to get away from the crowd and floated from High Bridge to Pipe Organ Bridge.  We caught lots of nice fish…maybe not as big as the “football” rainbows and browns below the dam but plenty of fish in the 16 inch to 19 inch variety.  The fish were taking the usual Beaverhead stuff, small (size 20) split backs, pheasant tails, etc.  Numbers wise, we probably netted 30 to 40 fish.  Water was perfect in flow and clarity.  All good stuff on the Beaverhead and that river is expected to fish good the rest of the year.

The Madison  July 8, 2010

We launched at Varney Bridge and fished the stretch down to the second takeout downstream…never can remember the name.  The Madison is always a great experience because of its history and the fantastic views.  The drive over to the Madison from Dillon through Twin Bridges, Sheridan and Virginia City is a wonderful trip and adds a lot to the enjoyment of the day.  It was a strange day on the Madison.  Weather wise, it was bright and sunny which always seems to inhibit the fish a bit but the water was perfect.  We caught a lot of fish, all quite small, which is at least strange and borderline weird on that river which usually produces some big rainbows and browns.  We surmised that the big fish had gorged themselves on salmon flies and other big bugs and were taking a day off from feeding.  We caught numerous small fish on prince nymphs, hare’s ears, and an assortment of pheasant tails and scuds.  Late in the day we stated with dry flies but got very few takes.  However, within sight of the take out and in the middle of the river, guest Jimmy Hayles of Cashiers, North Carolina got a huge brown trout to take a hopper.  The fish immediately headed upstream and took him to his backing.   Was a great fight for several minutes with angler and pro guide Cory Streett dismounting the boat and giving chase to the fish. However, fish won the battle by taking the line around a rock and breaking off.  Lots of fun in the fight and that big boy is still there.  We have the spot marked and will try him again.

The Big Hole

We launched at Troutfitters and fished down to the George Grant (Dewey) take out.  We were throwing dry flies most of the day and had great action the entire float catching the first fish, a nice brown, within a couple of hundred feet from the launch.  We fished a size 12 – 14 attractor fly, stimulator, wulff, hopper, etc, teamed up with a small mayfly pattern.  We caught a few fish on the big fly but most took the small offering and the most productive was the famous purple haze.  The weather was partly cloudy and overcast which helped the fishing and the water was perfect for dry fly fishing.  When that stretch of river is “on” dry fly fishing can be big fun and this was one of those days.  About 3:30 PM the fish quit on the dry flies and we switched to a nymph rig and continued to catch fish at the same pace until we got to the take out.

Was a great three day experience of some of the best trout waters in North America.  In August, we plan to expand the trip and take in the Jefferson and the Ruby.

Monday, October 12, 2009

We made the journey “over the hill” today down into Ennis and the Madison River.  The weather was supposed to be a little on the warmer side today, which it was, but we still felt the bite of winter most of the day…nothing a few layers of fleece and good gloves can’t cure.  We launched at Varney Bridge and wound our way down to 8 Mile.  Fishing was a little on the slow side early in the morning as the water temps still held some chill from the night before.  It wasn’t long however until we started hooking fish.  We stayed in the upper portion of our section for most of the day and caught fish at every run we stopped an worked.  Zonkers, SJW’s, eggs, Zebra Midges, BWO’s nymphs, and October Caddis were the choice bugs of the day.

As noted in the photo above, we landed this beautiful Brown and Rainbow double early in the day.  What is not noted in the photo is that we should have had three fish in the picture!  We landed on fish and had her securely in the net, and I made my way over to the second angler who was already hooked up with his fish.  As angler number two was just about to place his fish in the net, angler number one, who had just landed the brown, hooked up with another great trout.  We had two fish in the net with a third one on and just about to join the party when it made a hard run to the middle of the river and came off.  What fun!

Friday, September 25, 2009

On September 25 we drove over to Ennis to fish the great Madison River.  The Madison is a famous and productive fishery that every angler needs to experience….frequently.   The drive from Dillon along the Beaverhead River to Twin Bridges and then through the Ruby River valley to Alder is about as scenic as it gets, especially in the fall.  From Alder the short drive through Virginia City and across the pass and into the Madison River valley displays even more scenic vistas.  This is a great road trip.

We launched two boats at Varney Bridge and floated to 8 Mile Ford.  The usual Madison River dead drift zonker rig produced no fish so we switched to other nymph set ups and hit big on the San Juan Worm as the most reliable paired up with a prince or cadis nymph.  The morning session was good and action was steady.   We landed one brown trout well over twenty inches and a rainbow that was close to twenty out of one run.  The wind picked up mid day and the fishing slowed considerably.  We were able to land one 17” Brown just a few hundred yards above the takeout to seal the day.  The weather was warm and clear.  Our fishing is begging for some cooler weather and overcast which is supposed to happen in a couple of days.  At which time, we will do the Madison again.  Stay tuned.

Monday, May 25, 2009

The Madison and Jefferson Rivers are experiencing high and muddy water levels.  At post time, the Jefferson was running at 6,300 cfs near Twin Bridges, and the Madison has dropped a bit to 2,220 cfs near Cameron.  The upper Madison has a little cleaner water if you stay above the west fork, and will fish.  Hopefully by weeks end we will be able to get back on these great rivers and provide you with an updated fishing report.

May 5, 2009

Jenny with a nice Madison Rainbow

A chilly morning on the Madison turned into one great day of fishing.  We floated 8 Mile to Town and were into fish as soon as we hit the main river.  The water was a little cloudy to start but soon cleared up and was crystal clear for the remainder of the day.  Nymphing a big stonefly nymph, prince, sjw, and a size 10 pt were the bugs of the day.  This big rainbow was caught on a smaller golden stone nymph as we were finding a lot of real ones clinging to the rocks along the banks.