I wade fished the Upper Madison with a few friends yesterday evening. We pulled into the Lyon's Bridge parking lot to check out the water and a friendly older gentlemen coming from the Henry's Lake area said he saw several cars at Reynold's and Three Dollar access sites. While the Three Dollar area offers some great wade fishing we deceded to skip it in hopes of getting away from the crowd.
We fished from about 7:00-9:30 and caught fish on hoppers, caddis, yellow sallies, and caddis emergers. The fishing wasn't red hot but we managed to land some nice ones. The fish were most interested in smaller light colored caddis patterns. The mayflies came out late but not in large numbers like we had hoped. I tried a rusty spinner right before dark and caught a few smaller fish.
The older gentleman that tipped us off on the crowd up river felt inclined to give us his fish count on the way back to his truck..."landed 15 and missed about 20...on a size 16 tan caddis." Not a bad evening for the old buzzard.
Looking for a late meal after the evening hatch? The Claimjumper Saloon in Ennis is under new ownership and they are now serving food until 11pm. I recommend the Spicy California Chicken Sandwich.
