Category: Fishing Reports

Parent Category for Fishing Reports

July 1st – July 7th | Madison River Fishing Report

 

The big bugs have taken over. If you were here this week, you would have no doubt seen the Salmon flies and the Golden Stones that are out. They are still out and about making the whole river a bug manifesto!!! The fish have been doing trout things such as, not eating when the people are out, eating bugs until they are too gorged from eating real bugs to even eat YOUR fly, and eating small stuff when you want them to eat the big bugs. Well, that’s Salmon fly season my friends. But if you were lucky enough to get in on the action before they got too smart to eat your fly, you may have gotten lucky this week!  
There are so many different choices of flies for the fish to be eating right now. The Salmon Fly, the Golden Stone, the PMD, the many different Caddis, the Callibaetis, the Yellow Sally and yes, even the little midges are out and about on the river and lakes this week. That is a lot of choices, so arm up and equip yourselves for battle. Just when you think that brown or shamebow is going to give it up to the Salmon Fly, it doesn’t. It may want just a little Caddis, or a PMD…. or nothing at all because it is full. We all love throwing the big bugs, but if they aren’t eating it, they just are not going to eat it, so don’t get discouraged, they will eat it tomorrow. Because of the big bug hatch, there are more than average people about, during this time try going out a little earlier or a little later in the evening. Either way, the fish will eventually eat. Try variety in your schedule to experiment with the timing of the bite and the people.                                                                                                                                           

Anyways, the trout will be trout and you can’t help but be you, so come on in the shop and get those big bugs you need. The flies I am going to recommend this week are flies that we at the shop have used, the guides have used, and your mom has used…. along with the combination of intel from others that have come in the shop. Everyone has their favorite Salmon Fly, so I will not elaborate on the patterns too much there.

Dries:

  • Salmon Flies

Dornan’s Water Walker size 6 and 8 in the red

Delektable Secret Stone Salmon Fly UV Orange size 6 and 8

The Stimulator size 6 and 8

Sofa Pillows size 6 and 8

Delektable Secret Stone Royal size 6 and 8

Delektable Mega Chubbyness in Salmon fly colors size 6, 8 and 10

 

  • Golden Stones

Dornan’s Water Walker size 10 and 12

Delektable Secret Stone Golden size 10 and 12

The Stimulator size 10 and 12

Delektable Chubbyness in the Golden Stone colors size 8, 10 and 12

Dornan’s Peanut Walker Golden size 10 and 12

 

 

  • PMD size 16

Purple Haze

Adams

Light Cahill

Quigley’s PMD Cripple

 

  • Caddis

Delektable CDC Caddis in corresponding sizes

Elk Hair Caddis

Lil’ Hottie size 14 and 16

Half down size 14 and 16

Bloom’s Caddis Amber size 14 and 16

 

  • Yellow Sally

Delektable Chubbyness Olive Brown size 14 and 16

Delektable Chubbyness Royal size 14 and 16

Half Down Amber size 12 and 14

 

 

 

                          

 

                                                                                  

 

June 24th-June 30th| Madison River Fishing Report

Dear Friends and Family of the surrounding Madison Valley and the rest of the world, I give you…. The Madison River fishing report.

These days are the days where the people will seem relentless, the trout seem elusive and the weather only gets hotter. The good part about this particular time is that the big bug season is upon us! The Big size 10-12 Chocolate Caddis is a big caddis that comes around a few weeks before the salmon flies hatch. The Madison River trout love the big bomber Caddis. Period. Any larger brown elk hair caddis will do for that bug. The yellow sallies are out and about. The salmon flies are hatching and flying around Ennis and upriver a little. So, if you like to fish the big bug, now is your time. No telling how long they will be around this time, buuuuut…. they are here. If you need a pattern or two for those big guys or any flies, swing on in and one of us will help you out. As for you fly tying fanatics, don’t forget that we have half of the Beartooth filled up with all your tying needs. Every once and a while we might not have the material you need, but 100% of the time we might have it.

As far as the flies go, here is a slightly detailed list of some flies that have been working for us:

Dries:

  • Dornan’s Water Walker size 6-8
  • Delektable Secret STone Salmon Fly size 6-8
  • Gypsie King in peacock size 6
  • Delektable Elk Hair Caddis size 12
  • Bloom’s Caddis Amber size 14
  • Delektable Royal Chubbyness #14-#16
  • Cicadicator Orange Size 4

Nymphs:

  • Pat’s rubber legs black size 6-8
  • Prince nymph size 14
  • Lemon Drop size 16
  • Delektable Prince Brandon size 14 and 16
  • Evil Weivel size 16
  • Two Bit Hooker olive size 16
  • Delektable Pheasant Tail lil’ Spanker size 16

Streamers

  • Delektable Screamers
  • Mini Sex Dungeon Yellow
  • Delektable Olive and Black Double Screamer    

Those are Just a few of the flies that have been good for us here on the Maddy. If you have any questions you can always stop in or call us here at the Beartooth (406-682-7525). All of us here at the shop have been fishing during different hours of the day and doing well. Some days are obviously better than other days but that’s fishing, right? Anyways, happy fishing and get a hog!!!     

June 15th – 23rd | Madison River Fishing Report

This week has been a very busy one with the tourists starting to flow through and the bigger bugs crawlin’ to the banks. Guide season is now in full tilt on the Madison and there have been some nice fish being seen, caught and posed with. The Wild Adventure group has been here as well and they showed up with some guys that had never even held a flyrod….and they caught really nice fish! The river is just on right now! Our shop employees have been going out after work and doing well, gaining that shop intel you might need, so come in and pick their brains. The water is about 1,600 cfs at the West Fork and 2,640 cfs at the Cameron water gauge, and it is clearing up a little. It Is Prime Time. Hello! Be careful though, the water is still moving at a decent pace and we have those nice round slippery rocks to deal with. The bugs are looking good right now with big bomber Caddis on the rise as we approach the end of June. That is a bigger size Caddis than usual and he comes off every year right before Salmon fly season (which is a myth). There are stones moving around getting ready for the big exodus in July. The PMD nymphs are also starting to pick up a fish here and there. We have had a little cooler weather (I had ice on my guides this morning) lately but it makes for feistier, more aggressive trout, which we all like. It has been good to see a lot of you as you move through your Spring into Summer, swinging in and saying hello here and there. Please keep coming in and saying hello!!! Hopefully we can even send you in the right direction to lock in that fish that’s been haunting you in your dreams. …We all have that one…

Fly report:

Dries:

  • Big Chocolate Caddis (bombers) size 10 and 12’s Delektable Twisted Sisters and Twisted Babies in Tan/Brown or Brown are great for this too.
  • Adams size 12
  • Purple Haze size 12 through 16
  • Delektable Royal Chubbyness size 10 and 12
  • Brown Elk hair Caddis size 16 and even 18
  • Stone fly dries here and there in size 8 and 10

Nymphs

  • Delektable Mega Prince Standard and Flashback size 4-8
  • Delaktable Stonefly Candy black and orange size 8 (balanced)
  • Delektable Prince Brandon size 14
  • Delektable Pheasant Tail Lil’ Spanker size 10 (bomber)
  • Case Caddis patterns
  • Any ol’ nymph will do really

The Straum Bomb

  • Delektable Double Screamer Spawner
  • Delektable Double Screamer White
  • Delektable Double Screamer Olive with Rainbow dub
  • Delektable Double Screamer Olive/Black with Silver dub
  • Sculpzilla White size 6
  • Silky Kitty White
  • Sex Dungeon Yellow
  • Delektable Single Screamer Yellow
  • Double Boogieman Black
  • Double Boogieman Grey/Tan
  • Big streamers
  • Bigger Streamers
  • Homespun streamers

As you can see, the streamer bite has been on with this colder weather the last day or two, but the dry game is about to bump it up a notch here quick! One rule of thumb here on the Madison is that these fish will eat the dry even when there is no hatch going on or any rises to naturals. Throw them anyway. The fish have been taking the Delektable Royal Chubbyness in the smaller sizes #14 and #16 for the Bomber Caddis….and that’s a very good sign! More dries please! Well, I hope to NOT see you out on the river, but I do hope to hear that you were out there in another part of the river, HaHa. Anyways, please come in and say hey! Happy Fishing!!! -DanG

June 1st – 14th | Madison River Fishing Report

 

The season is really upon us now! As we watch the snow come down the mountains with the rain and hot weather, the river comes up.  And up. And up. We can’t help but be our trout bum selves and get in the muddy water anyway! The water is a little mirked up higher on the Madison and pretty muddy everywhere else north of the West Fork and Indian Creek. The bigger bugs and streamers have been the ticket as usual for this kind of spring weather. Don’t be afraid of a little color, the fish can see and/or feel just fine with that lateral line. Streamers and big nymphs make a little more commotion in the water and help the fish key into them a little easier. There is also a fine line of mud after the West Fork if you would like to play that game. The game of Good vs Evil, Dark vs Light, Clear vs Mirk…That will be going on for a while yet.

Some of the flies that have been working are as follows:

Dries:

  • March Browns (sz 14-16)
  • Caddis (Bomber sz 10)
  • Black caddis (sz 16-18)
  • Various Brown and Black beetles (sz 10-16)

Nymphs:

  • Pheasant Tail (sz 12-16)
  • Delektable Pheasant Tail Lil’ Spanker (sz 14-18)
  • Delektable Prince Brandon (sz 14)
  • Shop Vac (Sz 14-16)
  • Brown and Black Pat’s Rubber Legs (Sz 6-10) …mostly 8 though
  • Delektable Mega Prince Standard (Sz 4-8)
  • Delektable Stonefly Candy (Sz 8) in a few darker colors including the Bitch Creek
  • Curved hook Caddis Beadhead (sz 10-14)
  • Delektable Worm (sz 10) in red, pink and wine

Streamers:

  • Delektable Double Screamer Spawning
  • Delektable Double Screamer Black and Olive
  • Delektable Single Screamer White
  • Delektable Single Screamer Badger
  • Bow River Bugger (Sz 6)
  • Copper Zonker (Sz 4 and 6)
  • White Streamers
  • Black Streamers
  • Olive Streamers
  • Big Streamers

We hope to see you all soon, please swing in and say hello to us, the crew, for any of your flyfishing needs. Happy Fishing!!! -DANG

May 29th – 31st | Henry’s Fork of the Snake River Fishing Report

 

The day that Big Dan, Marty and Young Dan went to the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. It has been Salmonfly and Golden stone season down yonder way. We put in at Mesa Falls below the falls and floated a big double float to Ashton. The big bugs were everywhere at the boat ramp!!! Salmonflies covering the rocks and flying around, golden here and there, a sally or two and caddis of all sizes flying around. It was on. Bugs everywhere! It really felt like the middle of summer. The weather made it real nice as the bugs like the sun and heat. The fish were doing what they do and just crushing big bugs. It was on right away! We started out getting little fish on the big bug. Lots of little fish. (Dan sized fish). The bigger fish didn’t start eating until around 11am or so. The best times were 11am-1pm. Switching out with the rowing and the level of ridiculous “mature man” conversation kept it exciting all day….as usual with those two. 

A couple days later, Dan, Nancy and Marty did another float from the bridge down and had another great dry fly experience. They did have some weather role through but the conditions were still very good on the dry fly bite with lots of action for all.

The flies that worked for us the best.

Dries:

  • Home tied big nasty Salmonflies
  • Dornan’s Water Walker Peanut
  • Dornan’s Water Walker Golden
  • Delektable Secret Salmon and Secret Goldenstone
  • Delektable Chubbyness Royal

   

May 27th – 31st | Madison River Fishing Report

 

The water is high and muddy, but the Mighty Madison River is fishing considerably well! These are the times where the big streamers and the big nymphs are working the best. The bigger flies and streamers push and move through the water better than all the smaller stuff and the fish pick that up with their lateral line. The water might seem high and fast but focus on the sides of the banks and the pockets of water closer to the bank. The fish feel a little more comfortable with this color of water not having to worry about the birds and people as much. As far as the little flies and beadheads go, the guides have been putting them to them! The March brown has been a heavy hitter in a few different sizes but mostly 14’s. The BWO still picks up a fish or two here and there. Even the Squalla has been getting them in the net still. Soon we will be experiencing some warming weather and the snow will all be coming down, so get ready for the higher water and a little more color.

The flies that have been working have been steady going.

Dries:

  • Delektable Royal Chubbyness (sz 10)
  • Adams (sz 14)
  • Purple Haze (sz 14)
  • Caddis (sz 14-16)
  • Brown Drake and spinners (sz 12-14)
  • Midges (sz 18-20)

Nymphs

  • Delektable Mega Prince Standard (sz 4-8)
  • Delektable Stonfly Candy (sz 8)
  • Delektable Pheasant Tail Lil’ Spanker (sz 16)
  • Delektable Prince Brandon (sz 16)
  • Wire Worm (all sizes)
  • Wooly Buggers (sz 6 and 8)
  • Nyphicator (sz 16)
  • Prince nymph (sz 16)

Streamers

  • Any and all sizes will do, they are on it. When the bite is on, its on
  • The Delektable Double Screamers in most of the colors have been hot
  • The Delektable Single Screamers in White, Black , Badger and Black/Olive
  • Wool Heads on single hooks
  • Deer hair heads

Hope to see you out there enjoying the Big Montana Sky! Happy Fishing!!! -Dang