In just a few days, the Upper Madison has transformed.
Gone are the salmon flies and thick mayfly hatches. You still see some risers, but the windows are brief. One local has refocused on fishing the lakes. Jake at the Slide Inn fly shop says that we are now in an “in between” phase: bug hatches have declined and terrestrial season has not yet begun.
I fished “only” four hours today. 10 days of heavy fishing have really tired me out, and the air temps are at around 90 °F mid-day. I can push through all that when the dry-fly fishing is lights-out, but I’m now more sanguine.
One essential pattern for many Western rivers is Epeorus albertae. The bugs are everywhere and have some unique yellow, orange, and or pink hues. The pattern has been especially helpful for me in size 20 and when tied as a Hackle Stacker.
Bringing a critical mass of fly-tying materials has saved my bacon. Last summer’s “hot” fly, a small Caddis that fellow blogger @immaculate_fins developed, has been a bust this year. It took a few days to figure out what the fish wanted, but they soon readily showed their hand: Epeorus albertae, my Sulphur nymph, and a size 18 tan Caddis emerger have taken a lot of fish.
Today, once the hatch died down, I switched to tightlining. I didn’t get any hits until I found rocks and employed the Leisenring lift. For a while, nearly every cast produced a fish, particularly when I had my Sulphur nymph on.
If you’re going to target a Western river, don’t leave home without some Epeorus!
Discover more from BlogFlyFish.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Very nice looking fish….thanks for sharing your travels thru Montana. I’m looking at doing the same journey next season (would be my first time out west).
Safe travels!
David (broken tibia at the Westfield David)
Thank you!