Hey all,
We will be heading up to the Big Hole and Madison Rivers this weekend into next week, I heard it has been a pretty dry winter up there, and was wondering what the river conditions are like right now, and also what I should tie up for the trip. Any help from the locals would be greatly appreciated.
Chris
Right now most of our rivers are running high. The last four or five days it has been raining and snowing. I crossed the lower Madison last evening and it was high and off color. The Gallatin is high and dirty. I think a stone fly nymph should work. If you would like for me to go check with one of the shops I can give you more patterns.
Dean
“A legend in my own mind”
Thanks Dean,
Usually we go up there mid July to August, by then the rivers look like small creeks in some places. If you don’t mind checking into what the fish my be hitting on please do. I’ve got plenty of stones tied up so I’m good there.
Thanks for the reply!
I went to the shop here and I was told that the Big Hole was not running high and that the stone flies should be getting active. They also said that the standards, like prince nymphs, pheasant tails, copperjohns, lightening bugs, zug bug, hare’s ear and that there were some pmds hatching. They also told me that the Yellowstone was fishable now. I would think that the Upper Madison should be clear also.
Dean
“A legend in my own mind”
Not so sure I would say the Yellowstone is fishable, I didnt see one person fishing it yersterday while driving back from Cooke City. The wtaer isnt exceptionally high but it was very muddy and will be for a few days since more for sure since the Park got a fair amount of rain and the Lamar and other rivers/streams in the area will be pumping a lot of mud into the Yellowstone.
As for the Madison, I dont know since I havent been out that way for a few weeks. I would suspect that the upper section might be fairly dirty since some the creeks that feed into pump out quite a bid of sediment into the water (Cabin Creek and Beaver Creek coming to mind right off). That doesnt mean it wont be fishable though but it something to keep in mind. The lower section shouldnt be too bad and the flow rate is fluctuating based on how much water they let out of Ennis Lake. Right now it is below normal but with the rain we have had this past few days and the forecast calling for more, that might also change.
here is the link for flow rates for Montana [url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/current?type=flow:8643f]http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/current?type=flow[/url:8643f] You might want to check this right before you leave to get an idea also.
Dont know if this help much I though I might pass on what info I have.
Take care everyone and cya around. Mark