Lower Madison River Fishing Report

Lower Madison River Fishing Report

04/12/2024

Our beloved rainbow trout are spawning this time of year. That means if you see fish in shallow water on polished gravel DO NOT fish to them, walk in the water near them, or wade below the polished gravel as that is where the most eggs are. They are trying to keep our fish populations healthy and we need to do our part and leave them alone this time of year.

CADDIS CADDIS CADDIS.

This week the caddis hatches have really started to ramp up and the fish could not be happier. Starting your day nymphing a caddis nymph and emerger and then as it warms up switching to caddis dries has made for some great days on the Lower recently.

The upcoming rain and cooler temps will most likely slow down the caddis hatches some but there will still be adults out. Even with the possibility of a slow down in the hatch due to weather, the fishing is good. The crawfish are active and nymphing or stripping a craw pattern can find some larger fish right now.

With water temps hitting 50 just about everyday, the fish are out of their winter slump and ready to feed more actively in all areas of the river. Right now we are finding fish on a variety of nymphs, dry flies, and streamers. Giving the fish your presentation a few times can help increase your chances of success so make sure that you aren't casting to a hole just one time and calling it quits. If you are floating don't be afraid to slow your day down and sit on a hole to give your rig a few passes through the same spot.

When fishing slower buckets of water, slow stripping small streamers like your favorite sculpin or leech pattern can bring a lot of fish to the net. Otherwise, nymphing is going to be the name of the game if you don't see fish actively rising to beatis or midges. As with most our rivers, the pairing of a larger attractor pattern like a rubberlegs, worm, or zirdle bug with a nymph or emerger is usually the ticket to getting some action and will be until we start having a little bit more consistent warmer weather and those hatches start to really get going. 

Keep an eye out for fish with a blue or yellow tag and report it to FWP.

Dries: Cornfed Caddis #14-16, Elk Hair Caddis (Tan, Olive, Brown) #14-16, Micro-Chubby (Tan, Pink, Purple, Gold) #14-16, Brook's Sprout Baetis #18-22, Double Vision BWO #18-20, Para-Wulff Adams #16-18

Nymphs: Nyman's Shop Vac #16-18, Guide's Choice Hairs Ear(Olive, Natural)#14-18, Nitro Caddis Pupa #14-16, Perdigons (Black, Pearl, Green, Purple) #14-20, Zirdle Bugs (olive, brown, tan) #8-12 Holy Grail Caddis Emerger #16-18, Spanish Bullet Perdigon #16-18

Streamers: Sex Dungeons, Barely Legals, Copper Zonkers, Sheila's Sculpin, Silk Kitty, Mini Kill Whitey, Li'l Kims have been productive.  Play with color and profile every day. Skinny vs. big heads, dark vs. light, etc.

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Thanks for checking out our Madison River Fishing Report brought to you from Big Sky, MT.