Category_Vintage - March 11, 2019

Upper Madison March Dry Fly Action

After viewing the forecast today I found myself pleasantly surprised. On the far right end of the 7-day sat a high of over 40 degrees. Is spring finally going to show itself? My first thought, midges. It was nearly too cold all of February to head to the Upper Madison and target those midge slurping trout. But the end is in sight. This means dry fly fishing on the upper. Our Bozeman fly shop has heard a few reports of excellent hatches from the fly fishers willing to snowshoe in 15-degree weather through 4’ drifts. We even heard about a few fish getting fooled by a small midge imitation. The next likely hatch when we finally get this “heat wave” will be the season’s first stoneflies, the skwallas. Nothing quite matches up to throwing a big foamy dry fly when it is dumping snow in late March. If I were to head out to the Upper Madison in the next few weeks here are a few flies that I would not leave without.