BEAR GONE FISHIN'
APRIL 2022
UPDATED 4/14/2022
With warmer weather on the way, we’ve seen an increase in boat traffic down the main drag. The boat ramps are starting to become more accessible by the day, call the shop for an updated report. As of this morning, Windy, Ruby, MCatee, Story, Varney, 8 Mile and Clutes are all accessible with a drift boat. Raynolds and Lyons is accessible with a raft. You can put a drift boat in at Lyons but you’ll need to drag it across some snow to gain access to the river. Burnt Tree, Town and Valley Garden are still closed by Montana FWP. Palisades is still a no-go due to heavy snow drifts.
Our epic season of snow continues as the Madison basin is at 123% snowpack. Flows at Cameron have fluctuated between 1230 CFS up to 1430 CFS over the course of the last week. Expect flows to bump in the upcoming weeks as temperatures rise and low altitude snow begins to melt. Some of the lower river closer to town is a bit off color but is subject to change depending on next week's temps.
Fish have been eager to eat the streamer these last few weeks. Slower baitfish-like strips have worked the best to incite eats. Nymphing with large stonefly nymphs and worms has worked great as well. We’re still downsizing our leader and tippet to 4x or 5x. Be on the lookout for BWO's within the next few weeks.
Streamers: BH Krystal Bugger Black, BH Krystal Bugger Olive, Mini Dungeon Olive, Laser Legal Olive/White, Mini D&D White/Pearl, Peanut Envy Olive and Black, El Sculpito Olive, Eric’s Smooth Criminal Olive, Sculpin Leech Gray.
Dry Flies: RS2, Griffith’s Gnat, Tenkara BWO Emerger, Mini Hot Mayfly Olive, Parachute Adams.
Nymphs: TBH Pat's Rubber Legs Black and Olive, TBH Zebra Midge Black, Three Dollar Dip Red, CDC Prince, Rain Drop Pearl, Tungsten Jiggy Micro May PT, Jig Napoleon Yellow, Bloodworm Red.
We're in the midst of our annual Fly SALE. Checkout our SALE flies here for killer deals on your favorite patterns. Needing some extra insulation to fight the bitter cold? Give our Cold Weather Gear Page a peak. If you're interested in what the river looks like here in town, give the live cam a gander below!
- MRFC Guide Danny Eiden
