I landed at Bozeman, picked up the car and a lunch, and headed straight for the Madison River.
The drive was glorious once you got out of the city.
Bugs were everywhere: salmon flies, mayflies, and caddis in all sizes and colors.
Anglers were everywhere, too! A typical Saturday during salmon fly season.
Fortunately, I ran into fish right away, nearly all rainbows between 15” and 17”. Yellow was a key strike trigger, and they ignored other flies. The Sulphur Emerger I’ve written about did well, I suspect it was close enough to the PMDs in the drift.
My first fish was bulky and had both shoulders and girth. It was touch and go during the fight for a bit. Wild Montana fish fight very hard.
Other rainbows showed up whenever I had a nymph with a touch of yellow on it.
Later on, there was a mild PMD hatch, and a few fish started to rise. A nice brown took a Sulphur Cripple about 15’ in front of me, which was fun to watch. I forgot to tape it, but I suspect it was around 17”.
I caught up with one of the locals whom I met last summer. He is very kind and outgoing. Soon after, the wind really picked up. It was time to buy groceries and unpack.
It feels so amazing to be back!
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Good luck. Great start.
Thank you!
Thank you for keeping the fish in the water for your pictures, and I’m sure they and their species thank you, and all the anglers who practice keeping the fish wet thank you as well.
👍