The Upper Madison is without a doubt a pretty cool place to fish. If you look around and take in the beauties of the surrounding mountains hugging the river, it can put many other things aside. If fished right and with the right flies, you have the ability to hammer fish. Colin, a long time friend and college roommate of mine, booked a plan ticket on a Tuesday and flew up that Thursday from Virginia to experience the Maddy. A highlight of the trip was a thorough wading afternoon session above the Westfork. The key was to take our time moving up the river fishing the buckets, banks, seams and slower moving water. HOT FLIES included: Lightning Bugs, Delektable Hammerhead Hares Ear’s, Lime Juice, Delektable Mr Rubber Legs Wire Chartreuse, BH Prince Nymph, Partridge and Hares Ear, San Juan Worms, Delektable Chubbyness Royal, Delektable Halo Tan, Parachute Caddis Olive and Purple Haze. Besides a small incident that involved me breaking Colin’s rod in half it turned out to be a great day and let’s just say we caught a LOT of fish!! Time spent with friends on the river build memories that will last a lifetime, so get out there and explore the river. It really takes time, persistence and hard fishing to figure out how the river fishes, where the fish are and last but not least how to catch them.
Keep Throwing Darts! Will