An Icon of Western Fly Fishing.....still there?

I was just flipping through the stacks and stacks of fly fishing pictures I have stuffed in a box and came across this one, and it makes me smile everytime I do…anyone know if that thing is still there?

Picture is circa 1995.

I can still remember the first time I ever fished there… after reading that, it was darn near impossible to consider not following the guidlelines for fear of what was on the other end of that red paint. LOL

“Non payers will be band”…I love it!

“band”? “Deliverance”? For sure, I’d pay up.

Mark

If you don’t pay up maybe the next “band” you hear will be the heavenly band or a fiery one.:rolleyes:

Matt -

Western Fly Fishing covers a LOT of places.

If you narrow down the area a bit, I may go look for it ??

John

I thought it said non payers will be 8 and thank you for your…

Band sounds better:rolleyes:. However, ate ( 8 ) may have more of an impact.

Larry :smiley: —sagefisher—

Worse yet…it actually reads: “none payers will be band”… the letter E was worn down a bit or some helpful soul tried to erase it. :stuck_out_tongue:

That must be the “Three Dollar Bridge” on the upper Madison. You are right, that place is iconic in the fly fishing world. We almost lost that access when the ranch was for sale some years ago. There was a very cooperative effort from various fly fishing businesses and groups ( and I think, the state of Montana) to purchase this land and keep the Three Dollar Bridge Access open. I have not fished there recently, it is very, very crowded, but I think there is still a payment plan set up.

I’d agree, flybob…I haven’t been there in a long time either.

Yep it sure is the $3 Bridge access on the Madison…I take it the sign must be gone and some wouldn’t recognize that one? LOL
It was a beauty! :stuck_out_tongue:

I fished it mostly back in the mid 90’s when I was guiding out there and it was “Doom and Gloom” for the Madison due to whirling disease…I had some of the most incredible fishing of my life in those few summers in those pockets and runs. 50-75 big trout days were pretty common on nymphs.

Here’s a picture of exactly what’s sitting behind that crazy sign. :sunglasses: I do miss that place and on that beautiful July summer evening look upstream of me…all to myself.

Great picture, Matt.

John

Matt, do you ever get back out this way, Montana? I know what it’s like to leave Montana. Did that once and do not plan on doing it again.

No, sadly I haven’t been back out there in over 10 years. A group of us PA guys has been talking about taking a week and going back sometime in the near future.

I loved fishing out there so much, the variety of waters, the scenery and the easy to catch big fish are hard to put out of your mind forever. LOL
I think the last time I was out we finished on the Bighorn for 3 days as we worked our way back east and I haven’t been back since.

What’s funny is that in all my years flyfishing I have only ever fallen in the water 4 times…and all 4 times have been on that stretch of the Madison. :stuck_out_tongue: I don’t even think I could fish it as effectively as I did back then because I was a pretty fearless wader (being 6’3" and 240 doesn’t hurt ;)) but I would get myself out into positions there where I couldn’t get back. :confused:
Oh what a great place.:tieone:

When I saw your picture, my first thought was that anyone who would wade that far at $3 Bridge must be a strong swimmer and enjoy swimming in waders.

I’ve taken a spill there myself.

I bet there are only a handful of guys who have waded bank to bank in that stretch. :wink:

What amazes me is that in the first picture not only is there a very strong secure looking strong box to hold all those three dollar bills but there is a second overflow strongbox in case the first one gets filled to the brim. Business must have been very good.

“The Management” sounds like they’re sitting in some office watching over the place. So who was “The Management” really?

Anyway, great place to fish then and still is now. What a place for great wild Bows and Brownies.

That sign is gone last time I was there, The Trust For Public Lands that acquired the location put up another sign when I was there with them a few years back. I was just thumbing through my photo album and remembering fondly the location. I happen to use a spot just downstream as my webpage header. http://www.flyfishnw.com

Thanks for sharing this.

Some Images from the location

I floated this stretch in my pontoon late last July. Raynolds pass to the West Fork Campground. 3$ Bridge is about a mile or two downstream (the pontoon could only be used for transportation) I hit the salmon fly hatch and had a ball.
Later, last fall, there was some excitement about this stretch, as the damn between Quake and Hebgen lake had problems. But apparently, despite high flows, this stretch of the Madison fished well all summer and fall last year.

ed

That tree on the right side of the picture grew up quite a bit.
Thanks for the pictures…I have bunch myself from that area but I ended up losing an entire roll of film (pre digital days) due to one of those 4 dunkings. :frowning: That was from a fantastic day there…I would love to have those pictures right now because they were the best ones I had taken.

Funny story about that picture, it was taken by Andy Anderson (professional photographer who used to at least shoot for all the big fly fishing mags and catalogs. That pic was actually in the 96’ Orvis catalog.
Anyway, it was getting toward late afternoon and I was sitting on the bridge itself eating 1/2 a sandwich looking downriver. I glanced down below my feet at the far side downstream bridge piling and there were about 8 big trout stacked in the seam right below that piling.

I wolfed down the rest of the sandwich and planned my attack. If you’re familiar with that exact spot the current on that side below the bridge is WICKED with a very hard tongue of water between the bank and a small safe spot behind a boulder about 10 yards out. That boulder was within casting range of that piling.
So out I go, no wading staff as usual and make it to the rock. I’m thigh deep in the slack water behind it but there is no going ANYWHERE.
So I check my rig and my 2 nymphs and flip the first cast up into that seam and BAM hook a big brown on the first toss.
I horse him out of the current and into the slack water at my feet , net and release. Easy as pie. LOL
Honest to goodness I hooked 5 more big trout on the next 5 straight casts and fought them all back into that eddy I was standing in…I had no choice because I was trapped.
About 1/2hr from the time I hooked the first fish, I hook into the 7th one and it’s the biggest of the bunch and is one of those big jumping browns that defy logic on that river. He launches and heads straight downstream and toward the bank and gets behind me. CRAP.
So I do what I can, turn around and somehow manage to fight myself to the bank without drowning, fish still hooked and work him to the bank where I finally net him with wobbly legs. 21" of beautiful hook jawed brown.
As I slip him into the water a round of applause breaks out above me on teh bridge and I see 6 guys sitting there watching the whole time but I never noticed them LOL
So being the glutton for punishment that I am, and knowing that I now have an audience I am determined to catch the last of those 8 trout I saw from the bridge (and I’m sure there had to be more I couldn’t see) So against better judgement I start back out to that rock…I make it 5 ft and fall flat on my face in 3 feet of water.

A second round of applause breaks out from the bridge.:stuck_out_tongue:

I reeled up, licked my wounds and headed up to the bridge, and one of those 6 guys was Andy Anderson who asked me to help him with a photoshoot.
He tried to get pictures of me nymphing and casting and such but my fly line was gray in color and he couldn’t see it in the viewfinder so after over 1hr of trying to get the perfect shot he gave up and we went with the standard fake look in the flybox pose.:wink:
I’m glad I have an 8X10 of that picture because I gave up 2 hrs of one of the best fishing days of my life for it. :tieone: