Dan fished with Hienie on a cold and cloudy day with some color in the river. It was
another Upper River float from Windy Point to McAtee. Hienie put some nice fish in the net. The fly combinations were a single Delektable Black/Olive Screamer with a #12 BH Red Worm trailer or a #8 Delektable Flashback Mega Prince.
The articulated Delektable Black/Olive Double Screamer fished by itself well too.
Brandon and Gunnar fished with David, Matthew, Jackson, and Doug. The first day was
bigger action on the fishing. 
The second day the weather kicked in and the river became higher and the color started to get dirty below the West Fork. The river has been ever changing this spring as we have had a mix of very warm then cold conditions. As it cools down, the river clears up but when it gets warm, the snow melts and the side streams flow heavier into the main river with some dirt. 
They had good results with some of the same bugs. They fished Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, Delektable Flashback Mega Prince Standard and Olive, trailers of Lil’ Spankers in PT, some worms, some silver, some red, and streamers worked with olive or black and olive being the better choices.
Joe fished with Hienie on Saturday and they fished streamers mostly. There was more weather as the day went on enabling the streamer bite more. You can see the articulated streamers were the ticket. Not everyone can throw junk like that but Hienie has had a lot of practice. He had fun. Thanks Joe.
Springtime in the Rockies with weather conditions either hot and sunny or cloudy and cold. The bite was on with my favorite stonefly nymphs: all size #6 and #8 Delektable Flashback Mega Prince; Delektable Flashback Hurless Stones in Gray and Olive.
It’s incredible that the Upper Madison is open from Quake Lake to McAtee again year round. There were spots in the calm where the trout were sipping like crazy in pods. Those fish were fussy about the dry but not about the Delektable nymphs. Dan’s favorite spring flies were great that day. Later on we did try the small Delektable Chubbyness and it worked too. What a fun day.
They just killed it on the Delektable Flashback Mega Prince in Standard and Olive and the Delektable Flashback Hurless Stone in Gray and Olive. Catalina caught a massive Rainbow and rocked all day. Way to go Cat! Mike helped with the rowing and Dan was able to enjoy some rod bending.
When you fish this time of year you get to see herds of elk along the river and wildlife abound. What a country!
despite the “W” factor which prevailed. They had the two really nice weather days in between some winter conditions on the front and back end of their trip. Kim has a reputation for catching the big fish, not to be confused with another Kim we know who also catches big fish, and this time Zac was right in the competition with his sweetheart. Brandon took great care of them floating two different sections of the upper in his new boat which he loves.
The wind being low and temperatures in the 50’s; time to grab my wading staff and sample some deeper buckets. The flies that caught fish included: Delektable Flashback Mega Prince #8; Delektable Flashback Gray and Purple Hurless both #8; Delektable Flashback Mega Prince Olive #8; and of course Delektable Soft Hackle Red Worm #8.
open year round again… Yahoo! We are glad to see less crowding in one section of the river this year compared to past years and to see local residents having an opportunity to fish their back yard. The bite was great today. I stopped counting at 10.
They loved the Delektable Size #8 Flashback Mega Prince, Flashback Gray Hurless, and Flashback Olive Mega Prince, my go to patterns this time of year. I fished mainly deeper buckets with two #8 Delektables with or without weight. Friends fished the next day and had similar results except more of the “W” factor occurred which does come around these days. Call to find out if it’s gusty out here. They used similar bugs including good results with the Black Pat’s Rubberlegs #10 along with the Delektable Flashback Olive Mega Prince #8. In addition, a variety of worms and eggs can be effective this time of year trailed behind a stonefly.
Ruby Creek, McAtee, Varney, Eight Mile Ford, Burnt Tree Hole, Ennis, Valley Garden, and Clutes Landing are all usable and launch able. There is still ice on Ennis Lake but you can go down around it.
image to southern Oregon in search of steelhead. We haven’t heard much from him and don’t expect to really. He has become one with the river, fish and green trees. Rumor has it he wrangled a toad brown trout before he left. That image has yet to surface though so it’s only hearsay at this point. But, here is the lone bit of communication we have had with him shared via Instagram. 
