Fishing Reports & Tips - Page 8 of 125

August 21st-August 27th, 2023 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Ants fly too and they are flying in swarms throughout the Madison River! While we are still waiting on those epic Hopper days we remember from days of yore; Ants are where the action is at! Later in the week we started to see the grass turning brown on the hills and the green grass is all around the river, perhaps those little Hoppers will find their way down to the water this coming week.

Streamflows this week started at 1,190cfs@Kirby and 1,400cfs@Cameron with a steady drop throughout the week to end at 1,090cfs@Kirby and 1,270cfs@Cameron. Fishing this week has been inconsistent on what has been working from day to day. Ant patterns either as a Dry or as a Nymph (remember most terrestrials are eaten underwater). Tandem small Nymphs and a Streamer/ Nymph combo have been productive. Hopper and Ant patterns on top have been productive for an abundance of juvenile fish and a smattering of large Trout mixed in!

This weekend’s Madison River Flyfishing Festival was a great success; what a wonderful time and way to celebrate our fishing community. Thank you to all the contributors and vendors that make this event so special every year!

Nymphs: Geppert’s Red Machine #18; RS2 Black #18-#20; BH Montana Bullet Black/Red #18; Delektable Guide Stone Olive/Brown, Black or Black/Brown #10; JH Tung Drop French Lick #16; Delektable Lil’ Spanker Red, PT, Silver or Blue #16-#18; Delektable Hammerhead GTBH PT, Prince, Hare’s Ear or UV Purple #16-#18; Tungsten BH Jiggy Frenchie #16-#18; The Fly Formerly Known as Prince #14-#18; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Red, PT or Holo Black #16-#18; Wire Worm Red or Orange/Red #4-#8; Delektable Prince Brandon #16-#18; Geppert’s Mega Emerger #16-#18; Pat’s Rubberleg Black or Olive/Brown #8-#10; BH Lightning Bug Gold or Silver #14-#16; or Geppert’s Skinny Dip Black #14-#16.

Dries: Delektable Lil’ Chubby 2 Tone UV Black, Royal, UV Cinnamon or UV Pink #14-#18; Delektable Halo Royal or Mo River #16-#18; Delektable Chubbyness Rootbeer, Royal, UV Cinnamon, UV Purple or Olive Brown #12-#16; Dornan’s Micro Water Walker Peanut, Pink #14-#16; Bloom’s Stealth Ant Purple #14-#16; Yeager’s 409 Red #14-#16; More or Less Hopper Yellow or Peach #10-#12; White Cloud Hopper Tan or Peach #12-#14; Thunder Thighs Hopper Pink or Tan #12-#14; or Delektable Flying Ant Red, Purple or Black #14-#18.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed Screamer Olive/White, Black, White, or Yellow; Delektable Double Screamer Olive/Black, Olive/Black in Gold, Black, Olive, White, Yellow; Delektable Single Screamer Black, Olive/White, Olive/Black, White or Olive #6; McCune’s Sculpin Olive or Tan #4-#6; Zonkers Dark Olive, Tan, or Natural #8; Trevor’s Sculpin Olive, Black, or Natural #4; Dali Llama Olive/White or Black/Olive #6; Galloup’s Silky Kitty Black, Tan, White, or Olive; #6; Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow Sculpin #6; Conehead Zuddler Olive #6- #8; Flash Fry Olive/Natural #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive or Natural #6; Galloup’s Mini Sex Dungeons Olive, Black, or Cream #6; or Mini Sculpin Black #10.

August 14th-August 20th, 2023 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

The Heat is on here on the Madison River this week. We saw some of the hottest days of the year this past week with temperatures in the low to mid 90’s. How thankful we are that we had such an epic Winter now. The Madison River Basin has a plentiful amount of water to keep our River cool and ecologically safe from the August Heat.

This week’s Streamflows started at 1,050cfs@Kirby and 1,240cfs@Cameron, a slight mid-week rise to 1,130cfs@Kirby and 1,330cfs@Cameron and a drop back to 1,100cfs@Kirby and 1,280cfs@Cameron. Fishing can be challenging with flows on the rise, but quite epic when the flows drop.

Fishing this week was primarily the most productive with Small Nymphs or a Hopper/Stonefly and Small Dropper set up. The Nocturnal game is still holding strong, and we have started to see flying swarms of Ants and Tricos come off plentifully throughout the River. Hoppers have still yet to make their grand appearance, but Fish are starting to come up to the patterns regardless. Flesh, Pink, Tan, and Royal have been the color of choice for the top water Fly. We are reaching that time of the year when smaller Nymphs, #16-#20, are the most productive. Streamers are working well earlier in the morning and as an attractor for a small Nymph trailing it throughout the day.

This coming weekend, August 26^th-August 27^th, the 19^th Annual Flyfishing Festival will be happening in Ennis, MT. Our dear Dan Delekta will be doing a fly-tying demonstration from 11:00am to 12:30pm at Peter T’s Park next to Madison Valley Bank. If you would like some more information on the festival visit the Ennis Chamber of Commerce Website.

Nymphs: Delektable Hammerhead JH Hare’s Ear, Prince or PT #14-#18; JH Napoleon Light Olive #16-#18; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Olive, PT, Holo Silver, Holo Red or Miller Time #16-#18; BH Lightning Bug Silver or Pearl #16-#20; Blue BH Caddis Emerger Tan #16; Geppert’s Madison Purple Death #16; Geppert’s Skinny Dip Black or Brown #16-#18; Geppert’s Crystal Dip Brown, Olive or Red #16-#18; Wire Worm Red & Orange or Red #4-#8; Delektable Prince Brandon #14-#18; Bloom’s Tung Dart #16-#18; JH BH Iron Lotus #16-#18; Copper John #16-#18; Geppert’s Master or Mega Emerger #16-#18; The Fly Formerly Known as Prince #16-#18; BH Micro May Olive #16-#18; or CDC Flashback Pheasant Tail #16-#18.

Dries: Delektable Lil’ Chubby Pink, Royal, UV Olive or UV Cinnamon #16-#18; White Cloud Hopper Peach or Tan #12-#14; PMD Parachute Rusty Spinner #14-#16; Delektable Halo Royal, Mo’ River or Tan #14-#16; Delektable Secret Stone UV Dark Olive or Royal #10-#12; Transparent Ant Black or Black/Red #16; Delektable Flying Ant Minimal Cinnamon or Purple #14-#18; Hi-Vis Thunder Thighs Hopper Pink or Tan #10- #14; Missing Link Caddis Amber #16; Sparkle Emergent Caddis Grey #16; Parachute Adams #12-#16; Delektable Chubbyness Royal, Rootbeer, UV Cinnamon or Purple #12-#16; Dornan’s Water Walker September Stone, Pink or Peanut #12-#14; Yeager’s 409 Red #14-#16; Carlson’s Purple Craze #14-#18; Split-Winged Adams Parachute #16-#18; Delektable Mega2Tone Chubbyness UV Dark Olive, UV GoldenStone or UV Purple #10-#12; Delektable CDC Elk Hair Caddis Tan or Cinnamon #16-#18; Morrish Hopper Tan or Pink #12-#14; or McKnight Thunder Thighs Tan #12.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed Screamer Olive/White, Black, White, or Yellow; Delektable Double Screamer Olive/Black, Black, Olive, White, or Yellow; Delektable Single Screamer Black, Olive/White, Olive/Black, White or Olive #6; McCune’s Sculpin Olive or Tan #4-#6; Zonkers Dark Olive, Tan, or Natural #8; Trevor’s Sculpin Olive, Black, or Natural #4; Dali Llama Olive/White or Black/Olive #6; Galloup’s Silky Kitty Black, Tan, White, or Olive; #6; Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow Sculpin #6; Conehead Zuddler Olive #6- #8; Flash Fry Olive/Natural #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive or Natural #6; Galloup’s Mini Sex Dungeons Olive, Black, or Cream #6; or Mini Sculpin Black #10.

Posted in Fishing Reports, Upper Madison River | Tagged #Browntrout #trout #Rainbowtrout #Flyfishing #Madisonriver #montana #bigsky #Beartoothflyfishing #Dryfly #Streamer #Nymph #Delektable #, beartooth flyfishing, Delektable Flies, Fishing Report, Fly fishing, Hoppers Madison River, Madison river fishing guides, Madison river fishing report, Madison River Montana fly fishing, madison river rainbow trout, Montana fishing guides, Montana fly fishing guides, montana fly shops, Montana Flyfishing, streamers, Upper Madison River fishing report | Comments Off

August 7th-August 13th, 2023 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Sweet August in the Madison River Valley; the dog days of summer have set in, schools are about to begin and the River has seen less traffic this week, which if you have been lucky enough to be out there the fishing has been fantastic!

Streamflows this week started at 1,140cfs@Kirby and 1,330cfs@Cameron, flows have stayed consistent @ Kirby finishing the week at 1,130cfs and we have seen a drop throughout the week at Cameron to finish the week at 1,240cfs. Windy Point to Varney Bridge has been the most consistent section this past week. However we have had some windy days which can make McAtee Bridge to Varney Bridge challenging for anglers out of a boat. We are still waiting for Hoppers to really turn on, hopefully this warmer weather next week will finally push them down to the water, however the Ants and Beetles have been turning on. Nocturnals are still strong on top and fishing with a dropper has been quite productive.

Streamers and Nymphs have been productive, small Nymph combos or Streamer and Nymph dropper fished dead drift tightline or with an indicator. In the evenings the Caddis hatch is has been great and a Caddis with a Rusty Spinner pattern deadly.

Beartooth Flyfishing, aka The Fly Mart, is open for business Everyday 7am to 6pm, we are here to help you with all your fishing needs! Come on in and let us help you have the best adventure here in Montana and beyond.

Nymphs: : Delektable Hammerhead JH Hare’s Ear, Prince or PT #14-#18; JH BH Iron Lotus #16-#18; JH Napoleon Light Olive #16-#18; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Olive, PT, Holo Silver, Holo Red or Miller Time #16-#18; Pat’s Rubberlegs Black/Brown or Olive/Brown #8-#10; Blue BH Caddis Emerger Tan #16; BH Madison Purple Death #16; Geppert’s Skinny Dip Black or Brown #16-#18; Delektable Guide Stone Black/Brown, Olive/Brown or Black #8-#10; Geppert’s Crystal Dip Brown, Olive or Red #16-#18; King Prince #14-#16; Lightning Bug Gold, Silver or Pearl #14-#18; Wire Worm Red/Orange or Red #6-#8; Delektable BH Prince Brandon #14-#18; Bloom’s Tung Dart #16-#18.

Dries: Delektable Lil’ Chubby Pink, Royal, UV Olive or UV Cinnamon #16-#18; White Cloud Hopper Olive, Peach or Tan #12-#14; PMD Parachute Rusty Spinner #14-#16; Delektable Halo Royal, Mo River or Tan #14-#16; Delektable Secret Stone UV Dark Olive or Royal #10-#12; Transparent Ant Black/Black or Black/Red #16; Delektable Flying Ant Minimal Cinnamon or Purple #15-#18; Hi-Vis Thunder Thighs Hopper Pink or Yellow #10-#14; Missing Link Caddis Amber #16; Sparkle Emergent Caddis Grey #16; Parachute Adams #12-#16; Delektable Chubbyness Royal, Rootbeer, UV Cinnamon or Purple #12-#16; Dornan’s Water Walker September Stone, Pink or Peanut #12-#14; Cornfed Caddis CDC Tan #16; Carlson’s Purple Craze #14-#18; Split-Winged Adams Parachute #16-#18; Delektable Mega2Tone Chubbyness UV Dark Olive or UV Purple #10-#12; Delektable CDC Elk Hair Caddis Tan or Cinnamon #16-#18.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed Screamer Olive/White, Black, White, or Yellow; Delektable Double Screamer Olive Black, Olive Black in Gold, Black, Olive, White, Yellow; Delektable Single Screamer Black, Olive/White, Olive/Black, White or Olive #6; McCune’s Sculpin Olive or Tan #4-#6; Zonkers Dark Olive, Tan, or Natural #8; Trevor’s Sculpin Olive, Black, or Natural #4; Dali Llama Olive/White or Black/Olive #6; Galloup’s Silky Kitty Black, Tan, White, or Olive; #6; Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow Sculpin #6; Conehead Zuddler Olive #6- #8; Flash Fry Olive/Natural #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive or Natural #6; Galloup’s Mini Sex Dungeons Olive, Black, or Cream #6; Mini Sculpin Black #10.

Posted in Fishing Reports, Upper Madison River | Tagged #Browntrout #trout #Rainbowtrout #Flyfishing #Madisonriver #montana #bigsky #Beartoothflyfishing #Dryfly #Streamer #Nymph #Delektable #, beartooth flyfishing, Big Browns Madison River, Delektable Flies, Delektable Lil Chubby, Delektable Lil Spanker, Delektable Screamers, Fishing Report, fly fishing Montana, Hopper Madison River, Madison river fishing report, Montana fishing guides, Montana fly fishing guides, montana fly shops, Montana Flyfishing, Upper Madison River fishing report | Comments Off

July 31st – August 6th, 2023 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Montana’s Wild West Weather moved in this week making the first weekend of August feel like Fall! We started this week with sunny weather in the high 80’s and by Thursday we had low 60’s and rainy conditions. We are happy to have the rain and cooler weather show up in our little slice of heaven, but fishing became challenging by the end of this week with rainy and cooler conditions.

Streamflows this week started at 1,350cfs@Kirby and 1,490cfs@Cameron with a progressive drop throughout the week to 1,120cfs@Kirby and 1,330cfs@Cameron by Sunday. Fishing this week brought us some Hopper eats early in the week. Due to the rainy conditions later in the week we may see a 4-to-5-day break before we start seeing the Hopper action pick up again. Nymphs have been a solid option for consistency throughout the week. The Streamer/Nymph combo on a dead drift has been a go to for big Fish action!

Even with the rain this weekend during our Montana Hope Project Fundraiser Event the weather gods spared us, and we had the best conditions for eating Marty’s Gumbo and Dan & Nancy’s Chili! And…Vickie and Elle’s desserts were awesome! We had a wonderful turnout and had fantastic donations to help the kids! Thank you so much for all that attended and/or donated and if you didn’t but still would like to donate you can by mailing a check to us written to the Montana Hope Project (Mail to Beartooth Flyfishing PO Box 309 Cameron, MT 59720), calling us at Beartooth Flyfishing @ 406-682-7525 and we can do a donation with your credit card or mailing a check directly to the Montana Hope Project PO Box 5927 Helena, MT 59604-5927 (Note on the check “In Memory of Grandpa John Delekta”. By clicking on this link you can learn more about the Montana Hope Project Montana Hope Project Website. We were honored with a special gift of a beautiful bronze statue from the Montana Hope Project which is displayed in the front of our shop.

Nymphs: Delektable Hammerhead JH Hare’s Ear, Holo Green or PT #14-#18; JH BH Iron Lotus #16-#18; JH Napoleon Light Olive #16-#18; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Olive, PT, Holo Chartreuse or Miller Time #16-#18; Pat’s Rubberlegs Black/Brown or Olive/Brown #8-#10; Wilcox’s Little Green Machine Chartreuse #18; Geppert’s BH Madison Purple Death #16; Geppert’s Skinny Dip Black or Brown #16-#18; Delektable Guide Stone Black/Brown, Olive/Brown or Black #8-#10; Geppert’s Crystal Dip Brown, Olive or Red #16-#18; King Prince #14-#16; BH JH Lightning Bug Pearl, Silver or Olive #16-#18; Wire Worm Red & Orange or Red #6-#8; Delektable BH Prince Brandon #14-#18.

Dries: Delektable Lil’ Chubby UV Tan, Royal or UV Cinnamon #16-#18; White Cloud Hopper Olive, Peach or Tan #12-#14; PMD Parachute Rusty Spinner #14-#16; Delektable Halo Royal, Peacock, Purple or Tan #14-#16; More-Or-Less Hopper Purple, Pink, Peach or Yellow #10-#12; Transparent Ant Black/Black or Black/Red #16; Bloom’s Stealth Ant Purple #14-#16; Hi-Vis Thunder Thighs Hopper Pink or Yellow #10- #14; Yeager’s 409 Olive or Red #12-#16; Delektable Flying Ant Cinnamon or Purple #16-#18; Parachute Adams #12-#16; Delektable Chubbyness Royal, Rootbeer, UV Cinnamon or Purple #12-#16; Dornan’s Water Walker September Stone or Peanut #12-#14.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed Screamer Olive/White, Black, White, or Yellow; Delektable Double Screamer Olive/Black, Black, Olive, White, Yellow; Delektable Single Screamer Black, Olive/White, Olive/Black, White, Olive, or Spawning #6; McCune’s Sculpin Olive or Tan #4-#6; Zonkers Dark Olive, Tan, or Natural #8; Trevor’s Sculpin Olive, Black, or Natural #4; Dali Llama Olive/White or Black/Olive #6; Galloup’s Silky Kitty Black, Tan, White, or Olive; #6; Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow Sculpin #6; Conehead Zuddler Olive #6- #8; Flash Fry Olive/Natural #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive or Natural #6; Galloup’s Mini Sex Dungeons Olive, Black, or Cream #6.

Posted in Fishing Reports, Upper Madison River | Tagged beartooth flyfishing, Big Brown Trout Madison River, Big Rainbows Madison River, Cameron Montana FLyshops, Delektable Flies, Delektable Screamers, Ennis Montana flyshops, Fishing Report, Fly fishing, Hoppers Madison River, Madison river fishing report, Madison River Flyshops, Montana fishing guides, Montana fly fishing guides, montana fly shops, Montana Flyfishing, Montana Hope Project, Streamers Madison River, Upper Madison River fishing report | Comments Off

July 24th-July 30th, 2023 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

The heat has been turned up on the Upper Madison this past week but unlike much of the rest of the world, the temperature drops at night, and we have the water to help keep our River ecosystem cool and our trout healthy! Fishing has been unpredictable this week and has us all changing our tactics to accommodate a hearty catching experience.

We have started to see Hoppers and other Terrestrials start to be productive this week especially on the flats and below Varney. It’s really been a color game from day to day with Peach one day, Green the next and Tan the next. Remember that Terrestrials can be as good, if not better subsurface. Fishing a Hopper and a dropper can give you an attractor and float your Nymph in the perfect water depth for maximum success! Nymphs and Streamers have been the most consistent this last week with a variable success with Rusty Spinners, Chubby’s, Delektable Lil’ Chubbies, and Parachute Adams.

As for next week, the forecast looks like some serious rain to help cool us all down and with that Streamer and possibly some evening dry fly action after a storm. But if the rain has got you down and you need to dry out, we got you covered at Beartooth Flyfishing! This coming weekend, August 5^th & 6^th Noon to 5PM, we are celebrating our 10^th Annual Montana Hope Project Fundraiser! We will be serving Marty’s famous Gumbo, Dan & Nancy’s Chili along with cookies and pies from Elle at Elle’s Belles and Vickie Noack at Country Bumpkin Bakery. We also will be having fly tying demonstrations and casting clinics as the weather allows! For a $50 donation you can get all the food you can eat and support a great cause to help Montana’s Families.

Dries: Delektable Lil’ Chubby UV Tan, Royal or UV Cinnamon #16-#18; White Cloud Hopper Olive, Peach or Tan #12-#14; PMD Parachute Rusty Spinner #14-#16; Delektable Halo Royal, Peacock, Purple or Tan #14-#16; More-Or-Less Hopper Purple, Pink, Peach or Yellow #10-#12; Transparent Ant Black/Black or Black/Red #16; Bloom’s Stealth Ant Purple #14-#16; Hi-Vis Thunder Thighs Hopper Pink or Yellow #10- #14; Yeager’s 409 Olive or Red #12-#16; Delektable Fly Ant Cinnamon or Purple #16-#18; Parachute Adams #12-#16; Delektable Chubbyness Royal, Rootbeer, UV Cinnamon or Purple #12-#16; Dornan’s Water Walker September Stone or Peanut #12-#14.

Nymphs: Geppert’s Skinny Dip Brown, Pearl or Black #14-#18; Psycho Prince GB Purple or Green #14-#16; BH Micro May Olive #16-#18; Delektable Lil’ Spanker Red or Silver #14-#18; Beaverhole Special PMD #16-#18; Duracell Bomb JH UV Black 2.5 #16; Delektable Lil’ Spanker Red, Purple, PT, Olive or Silver #14-#18; BH Lemon Drop #14-#18; Delektable TGBH Big Spanker Warrior, Olive or Light Olive #16-#18; Geppert’s Lightning Bug CH Black, Gold or Silver #16; Delektable Guide Stone Black or Olive/Brown #10-#12; Pat’s Rubberleggs Olive/Brown or Brown/Black #10-#12; Formerly Known as Prince #14-#16.