Dec. 2013…Merry Christmas to all my clients and friends…come to Montana next summer and let’s go fishing!
Dec. 19, 2013…Deer fight in my back yard…not exactly Tyson/Holyfield but fun to watch!
Dec. 11, 2013…River gorge comes up under Ennis Bridge…it’s gettin’ tight in there!
Here’s what the gorge did to the old bridge!
Photo courtesy of Madison Valley History Assoc.
Dec. 9,2013…Eight Mile Ford Boat Ramp gorge morph low def time lapse winter chill pics:
Eight Mile Ford boat ramp yesterday.
Eight Mile Ford Boat Ramp today.
Dec. 8, 2013…Madison River Slurpy…a few photos of the river gorge and more ice, ice, baby!
Burnt Tree boat ramp Dec. 6, 2013…10 below zero
Burnt Tree boat ramp Dec. 8, 2013…20 below zero.
Madison River upstream from Burnt Tree Dec. 6
Madison River upstream from Burnt Tree Dec. 8…20 below zero.
Looking across the Madison River to the Ennis Campground outhouse…the Madison River is a mountain of ice.
Dec. 6, 2013…”Tenth Avenue Freezout”
The edge of the river at the end of my street looking across to the Ennis Campground which is entirely iced over. Bet it’s cold inside that outhouse!
“…out of the night which was 50 below and into the din and the glare, there stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks dog dirty and loaded for bear”…Robert Service
Dangerous Dan McGrew would love it around here…way below zero every night but it warmed up to 10 below today! Forecast for next four nights here in Ennis…tonight: eleven below…Sat: fourteen below…Sun: eight below and a heat wave on Monday: only zero degrees! Pass the whiskey!
Looking back down river toward the Ennis Bridge from the end of my street.
The Madison River has gorged up in a hurry up through town and the campground and is headed upstream….great news if you are a penguin or a polar bear…I always wondered how the trout survive these heavy gorges…many of the fish winter kill, especially young of the year but amazingly the majority of them seem to survive.
I have seen the gorge travel as far as 21 miles upstream from town to Ruby Ck. Campround. One year the McAtee outhouse disappeared under ice. With lots more below zero temps in the forecast, this could get very interesting around here!
Madison River looking upstream from the Ennis Bridge today.
” A River Used to Run Through It”
I took all these photos today after it warmed up to 10 below …ice, ice baby!
Oct. 2013…fishin’, huntin’ mushrooms, havin’ a ball!
Fan Mtn. near Ennis, Montana…elevation 10,253′
Meadow mushrooms (agaricus campestris) and Scotch bonnets (mirasmius oreades)
Oct…2013. Hunting By Landowner Permission Only!…in my back yard.
Sept. 20…2013. How about this big brown trout caught by Bill Sachs in the Channels stretch today! Big bad boy took the copper zonker…yowzah!
the gentleman on the right is boning up on the latest fly fishing techniques just before he passes out
Late Sept…2013. good streamer fishing in Channels stretch…zonkers with or without bead head trailers, muddlers, one monster rainbow on a dry fly. Water temps: 54 degrees AM…64 degrees PM.
Sept. 9…2013. Tough on the flats this morning…four fish on the scud fly…hatches are thinning out…a bit of North wind. Caught a nice 18 inch male brown trout starting to get colored up.
Sept. 4,5…Caught eight nice trout this morning on the flats…hot fly was this size 14 scud pattern I’d been carrying around in my vest since I don’t know when…had to go down to 5X to get ’em!
My home tie version:
hook: Tiemco TMC 2457 size 14-16
body: Fly-Rite dubbing, light tan, picked
rib: Ultra wire, red
thorax: Krystal Flash, black
Can’t wait to try my new home-tie “Brown-Eye” zonker for late season streamer fishing.
Hook: Mustad 9672 #4…mash down the barb.
Body: pearl crystal chenille.
Tail: Hareline natural chinchilla, pre-cut strip.
Throat: crystal flash chartreuse.
Head: acrylic enamel white with brown eye. (I use the Homefront brand craft paint…white and “spice tan” colors)
Aug. 30…2013…Great morning on the Flats…the large calibaetis are hatching…seven nice trout to 19″…the Sparky fly strikes again! Water temperature on the flats @ 9AM, 60 degrees.
Aug. 30…2013. Ants…the large, honey-colored flying variety are lurking and just around the corner. The hot spots are Ruby Cliffs., below McAtee, Shewmaker Ditch, the Cottonwoods, Snag Hole, below Varney, Eight Mile, Channels. Watch for the nighthawks flying. Trout candy!
Aug. 28…2013. Big brown trout caught today by Dennis Hall, Walnut Creek, CA. on a lightning bug fly. One of the nicest fish I have seen come out of the Madison this summer. Thank you Dennis and Kay!
Aug. 25-27…2013. Amy Edwards from Kansas City, KS…first time fly fishing in her life caught this Madison River brown trout on a dry fly below Palisades…good job Amy!..thanks Amy and Ryan White for a great two days!
Aug. 24…2013…Nice rain the last two evenings…the heat wave is gone…river flow is good…air and water temps are nice…long term forecast calls for sunny days in low to mid 80s…cool nights…I would bet on the flying ant hatch for next week…life is good!
Aug. 23…2013…fun with Ed and Susie today…the Palisades stretch…some nice ones for Susie…#14 parachute adams strikes again!
Aug. 20…2013…Nice float trip this morning with Jen and Phil…Palisades to McAtee…we caught some nice ones on dries…no, we really did! #14 parachute adams did the trick.
Aug. 19…2013…Nineteen inch bow and twenty inch brown today for Rick and Kai Williams. Hilton Head, SC. Both fish caught below Ruby Ck. Campground…excellent!
Aug. 18…2013…Good rainbow for Cindy Baur today in the Varney stretch…I worked the net and was happy to release this fine trout alive to swim another day!
Aug. 17…2013…The tricos just keep coming…eight nice trout this morning including this fat 22″ rainbow caught on a parachute adams..hatch lasted until 11AM…good stuff!
Aug. 15…2013 Fun with Amy and James on the river today. We caught fish and saw the bear at Palisades!
Aug. 14…2013…Great day for Wooty Peebles of Winston-Salem, NC…and thank you Kathryn Bell for all you do! We fished Varney to Town and loved it!Aug.10…2013…red hot in the Varney stretch this morning for Jerry Bell…a dozen nice trout 15-18″…RB bunny and the red fly did the trick…yes!
Aug. 9…2013…The tricos were thick this morning…several nice big trout for Elly Sachs Holder including a 22″ rainbow…overcast skies and no wind made it perfect…they kept rising until 1PM and we kept picking them off…parachute adams, pheasant tail and Sparky did the trick… thank you Elly for a fun morning of fly fishing!
Aug. 7…2013…Good fishing today on Madison Flats with Elly and Jake Holder, Dallas, TX…twenty inch rainbow for Elly on the Sparky fly…yowzah! Heavy trico hatch in the morning…then heavy calibaetis hatch till 3PM…excellent!
massive blanket of dead tricos, Madison Flats this morning
Aug. 4-5…2013…Nice brown trout caught by Ray Cammack, Circle Valley Produce, Idaho Falls, ID…we both eat Idaho potatoes, the best spuds in the world! Spruce moths are hatching below the Lyon Bridge stretch of the Madison…use a large elk hair caddis, olive or cream body (size 10 or 12), Half Back Hopper or Spruce moth fly of your choice.
July 30…2013…Tricos on the Flats…trout in the mist…bugs on my sleeve…super nice morning!
July 27…2013…Release photos of brown and rainbow trout from the flats the last two days…overcast this morning helped…many risers and pods of fish working on the tricos…the hot fly was “Sparky”, my sparkle pupa home tie.
Twenty inch Madison Flats brown trout in release mode
July 26…2013…MAJOR trico hatch on the flats this morning…the big calibaetis are coming out, too. Seventeen trout on the fly…about 50/50 rainbows to browns. Best fish was a 20″ brown. Nice morning!
July 23-24…2013…Good PMD hatch on the Upper Mad. Did well on #16 Parachute Adams and #16 Royal Trude. Heaviest hatches have been between Windy Pt. and Ruby Ck. around 10-11AM.
July 22…2013…good action this morning on large caddis #10 dry…several good trout on top…then this really nice fat female brown trout caught by Jack Wittman in the Rail Fence Hole on the little red fly. Beauty! LOTS of nocturnal stone husks on the rocks and we even saw a live winged adult skittering on the surface!
July 16…2013…fun float with Wes and Joe…we caught some nice ones in the Varney stretch.
July 15…2013…Great day on the river…took a little break after lunch.
July 15…2013…30 years on the Madison with these two guys…Jim Ferrin and Ray Cammack from Blackfoot & Idaho Falls…the hits just keep on coming! Thank you guys for 30 years of fun ( and snacks).
July13…2013…So we go from 350cfs to 1580cfs out of Hebgen Dam in one week? It’s a wild ride around here…but we caught fish…a good day for Bert Summers of Sugar City, Idaho…I worked the net!
July 7…2013…Good on dries this morning on the Upper River…the Palisades to McAtee stretch fished well…#12, #14 elk hair caddis did the trick. Well done John and Lynn!
July 5…2013…Some nice fishing early AM on the river today…hot flies were the big, fat elk hair caddis and the #18 Psycho Prince…a good day for Cindy B! Water temp. 68 degrees at 10AM.
Love the mesh stockings!
July 2…2013…Flat calm out there today…8 trout to the fly…a 20″ rainbow on a dry was the best…water temp. on flats this morning: 74 degrees.
July 1…2013…Another great day on Madison Flats…27 trout on the fly…Parachute Adams and PTC fly did the work…about 50/50 rainbows to browns…all nice fish 15″-20″…lost a few in the weeds and hooked two in the tail!…great morning 7:30AM-Noon…sunny, slick, nice.
Chironomid midges flying above…early AM…these flies are common on still water fisheries…they are like large, non-biting mosquitos…clouds of them hatch and fall on the water…the trout like both the nymphs and dries…slurp!
June 28…2013…Hot and glassy this morning, Madison Flats…heavy midge/chironomid hatches…saw the big callibaetis here and there but still too early for those guys…17 trout in hand…mostly bows but a few nice browns…nothing smaller than 15″…fished from 7:30AM-Noon…excellent! Above, top to bottom…my brown leech home tie, Mustad 9672 #12…natural damsel fly nymph captured this morning, (these critters swim in a zig-zag, sidewinder fashion, very unique)…and PTC (pheasant tail chironomid) home tie, Tiemco TMC 2457 #14. I mash the barb down for easy release of these fine trout.
June 27…2013…Red hot this morning on Madison flats…many risers, slurpers, etc…19 trout 14-20″…about 2-1 rainbows to browns…hot flies were Sparky and PT chironomid…weather was mild, sunny, light winds…nice!
June 24…2013…Another good morning…11 trout, 15-20″…hot flies were my home ties: Cali Spinner, Pheasant Tail and “Sparky”
I like the Tiemo TMC2457 sedge hook for my nymphs and emergers on the Flats…2x short, 2x heavy…size 14, 16…excellent hook!
June 23, 2013…Nice morning of fishing on Madison Flats…heavy midge hatch…hot flies were brown leech, pheasant tail and sparkle pupa…several nice fish to the net…19″…20″
June 21, 2013…Salmon flies are here…river is low…come and get ’em!
June 12, 2013…Rain the last couple of days…a “devil wind” hit Ennis yesterday and the old “tree on a wire” thing knocked out power for a while…Madison is off color but low…only 467cfs out of Hebgen is a trickle…wade fishers up high are finding some clear enough water to fish..salmon flies on the Big Hole…stay tuned.
May 19, 2013…Steady rain all night…Madison is high and greenish gray…1280cfs at West Fork…water temps from mid 40s to low 50s…several boats went yesterday (opening of Quake to McAtee section)…results were mixed…Hebgen is at the brim but no major release from the dam yet…the stretch just below Hebgen Dam has been a popular spot for waders lately…water still low and fishable in there. More reports to follow.
Springtime in my back yard…Ennis, Montana
May 17, 2013…Finally getting some rain around here after a spell of hot, dry weather…feeder creeks into Upper Madison running high and off color but forecast of night time temps down to mid 30s next few days might slow things down…creeks like Beaver, Cabin, West Fork, Standard, Squaw, Moose, Horse, Wolf, Indian Ck. running high and off but minimal release from Hebgen Dam (758cfs). Madison is at 1350cfs at West Fork and 2030cfs at Varney. visibility about a foot off the bank near 8 Mile Ford Fishing Access this morning…color is green, not chocolate
So the high, off color water is from the creeks not Hebgen Reservoir. Good reports still coming in from Lower Madison with some caddis and PMD action along banks and slicks.
Tomorrow is the third Saturday in May which means Opening Day of the General Fishing Season in Montana. Everything’s open, come on down!
MAYBE YOU CAN CATCH ONE LIKE THIS!
May 10, 2013…Hiked up Bear Trap…clouds of caddis and PMDs…dry fly fishing is happening…water clarity is real good…Mother’s Day Hatch right now…with warm, sunny days, spring runoff right around the corner.
May, 2013…Great article about my friend Glenn Brackett and the Montana Boo Boys!
http://montanaheadwall.bigskypress.com/montana/cast-from-the-past/Content?oid=1734494
April, 2013…Madison snowpack looks good. Get your gear ready!
http://www.madisoniannews.com/snowpack/
March 17,2013…Happy St. Patty’s Day to all!
March, 2013…”The Window”…between now and June run-off is a great time to get in some early season fishing…water temps all winter are locked into 35-37 degrees. Very soon those temps will start slowly rising and the fishing can get real good. Plus the flows are still low so the wade fishing is easy! (maybe). Have at it!
Feb. 10, 2013…Ennis, Mt…”Snow likely, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 24 by 11am, then falling to around 19 during the remainder of the day. North wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.”
January, 2013. The river gorge broke loose but still cold, snowy on the way to Bozeman today..10 degrees tonight in Ennis…no problem…the moonshine at Willie’s Distillery never freezes!
