Madison River
Hebgen Lake-Quake Lake: 7/31/2010
If you are looking to rip Whitefish in large numbers, head between the lakes and get a good drift with a Crystal Dip under an indicator. A few trout may surprise you every once in a while if you are lucky. Tossing Wulffs and Trudes around is a better way to raise a few trout. Keep an eye out for Caddis in the evenings.
Quake Lake-Lyon Bridge: 7/31/2010
The Madison has some great dry fly fishing to offer almost every evening right now. There are still good numbers of Caddis and Epeorus Spinners on the water. Some nights the fish will be more interested in the Caddis, so make sure to have some Iris and CDC patterns in the box. For the mayfly spinner falls, a Calf Wing Rusty Spinner in #16 is tough to beat. Try to sneak in close to rising fish and make short accurate casts. Your hook setting and presentation will reap the rewards.
Lyon Bridge to Ennis: 7/31/2010
Mid-day fishing on the Madison’s float section has been tough most days, but the morning bite has been very consistent as most of the fish feed before the water gets warmed up. Both nymphing and throwing dries have produced a lot of nice fish as of late in the mornings. Dries have been better than nymphs most afternoons. Dips and Shop Vacs have been the best sub surface bugs. On top, Epeorus Duns and X-Caddis have produced in the morning hours and there has been the start of some good hopper fishing in the afternoon.
Gallatin River: 7/31/2010
The Gallatin is fishing quite well north of Big Sky. We’ve had good action on nymphs and even better fishing with dries. Basic attractor dries fish as well as anything and we are even starting to fool some fish with terrestrials. Olive Hare’s Ears and Flashback Pheasant Tails have been some of the better nymphs. Keep an eye out for Caddis hatches late in the day.
Hebgen Lake: 7/31/201o
Tricos and Callibaetis have been plentiful on Hebgen in the mornings. The fishing has not been consistent from one day to the next, but when it has been good, there have been a lot of fish rising. Bobbing up fish on Turkey Callibaetis Nymphs and Chironomids is always an option, but fish are pretty willing to eat both Callibaetis duns and spinners, especially later in the mornings. As usual, things are pretty much over once the wind comes up.