by Randy | May 29, 2023 | River Reports
Say it loud..”I WON’T FLOAT THE UPPER MADISON FOR A WHILE”. And don’t wade it either. Don’t listen to the fly shop geeks that want to send you up to Three Dollar. Just say no! The river is raging 2790 out of Hebgen and 4560 at Varney....
by Randy | May 24, 2023 | The Snag Hole
The Big Hole River and its continued state of peril; trout numbers again at historic lows M.Kiewiet 21 hrs ago 1 The Big Hole River’s trout population is still in decline. Conditions appear dire as ever and the worst seems yet to come. Experts around southwest...
by Randy | May 24, 2023 | River Reports
Flow gage at Varney Bridge shows the Madison at 3700cfs. Clarity is poor. Low clearance at Shelton’s and Kelly bridges up-river. Flows at Hebgen Dam are still locked down at 863cfs. There is a lot of snow in the hills yet to melt. We had a long winter…and...
by Randy | May 20, 2023 | The Snag Hole
Michael Wright Chronicle Staff Writer 5 hrs ago A National Park Service crew hauls in a gillnet on Yellowstone Lake.Michael Wright/Chronicle Every summer, six days a week, crews roam Yellowstone Lake in boats, setting nets and pulling them in. They target nonnative...
by Randy | May 13, 2023 | River Reports
Twenty inch beauty for Bill Sachs yesterday. We fished the Channels stretch and found some great new deep runs created by the ice gorge. Every year is a learning process after the gorge…some old spots disappear, and new ones emerge. The river was quite fishable...
by Randy | May 11, 2023 | River Reports
M.Kiewiet 16 hrs ago × As is the case during most springs, many of our local streams resemble something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Like a golden ticket, fish are difficult to find unless you know exactly where to look. Sure, there are fish to be caught....
by Randy | May 11, 2023 | The Snag Hole
Brett French…Butte, Montana Standard 1 hr ago Montana rivers like the Yellowstone are seeing increasing pressure from recreationists at the same time that development is increasing in the region.Brett French As Montana’s population has grown, development,...
by Randy | May 6, 2023 | The Snag Hole
Helena Dore Bozeman Daily Chronicle 1 hr ago Volunteers search a channel of the upper Madison River for fish stranded by drastically lowered water levels below Hebgen Dam on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. A malfunction at Hebgen Dam caused flows in the upper Madison River...
by Randy | May 6, 2023 | River Reports
The Madison at Varney is rising at 2000cfs but the release flow at Hebgen has actually dropped down to 1100cfs. What does it all mean? It means Hebgen Reservoir will fill soon and when it does the release will increase while at the same time the heaviest snow melt is...
by Randy | Apr 22, 2023 | River Reports
Lots of carnage from the gorge…ice muffins, drowned trees, gravel bars…and a pretty severe winter stubbornly winds down. We saw geese nesting, moose grazing and trumpeter swans feeding. White pelicans and mallards joined the party. And caught a nice brown...