Upper Madison update from Slide Inn:
861 CFSPPL raised the river up to 861 cfs yesterday-- which is about normal for this time of year-- but it should not be enough of an increase to truly disrupt the fishing. With temperatures getting down into the high 30's/ low 40's a night, its safe to say that we have probably seen the last of the summer pulsings, as the PPL hopes to fill up a very drained Hebgen Lake for next July. In other news, of the fishing sort, we are starting to move out of the mid-August transitonary phases as the Baetis have made their presence officially known. #18-20 olive Hares Ears, Pheasant Tails, brown/olive Bubble back emergers, and other small BWO nymphs have been especially productive during the a.m. to early afternoon hours, with the hatch coming off at around 9:00 in the morning. We have also seen a pretty stellar Crane Fly emergence (think #16's) at about the same time, and have been doing well on larger midge patterns underneath the surface as a result. A few epeorus are around, but they should be heading south any day now. Mid day hopper fishing has been more hit and miss more than anything--some days you'll have 40+ fish come to the fly and on others you'll be lucky to see 10; however, a patient and persistant soul will often be rewarded. This year we have taken the majority of our fish on #12 grand hoppers, #10 carnage hoppers, and #10 Stream Bank hoppers. Dropping a sunk BWO spinner, ant, or beetle behind one of the above, has also been effective. Streamer fishing has also been very good-- be it early, mid-day, or in the evening. The T&A Bunker has been ripping it up on the brighter days, and black, as well as olive sex dungeons should be flat-out illegal under all dark conditions.
As always, don't forget to swing by the shop and say hello-- we can't say no to fish stories.