Warming Trend

After the deep freeze of the last week, it’s nice to look outside this morning and see the thermometer hovering in the mid-30. Balmy, by my standards and the thought of skipping out around noon came to mind. I am yet to hit the midges on lower Madison this winter and things are looking good for it today, almost. The forecast I saw is calling for 25 mph winds today so I think I’ll save my “hall pass” for another day. You never know though, it might be worth the drive later in the day for those of us out there that tend to have quiet Tuesday’s!

I spent the weekend over on the Big Horn and despite the frigid, snowy weather I was still able to catch some fish and have a good time. Funny how that goes sometimes, it’s just the need to get out and fish for a few days more so than the need to catch a bunch of fish that drives me at times. Tailwaters like the Big Horn stay surprisingly free of ice on those days when everything around Bozeman would be covered in chunks of drifting ice and slush. So, we spent the days nymphing away using Tenkara rigs and walking around the Pillsbury Dough Boys in dark colors. A compliant was not heard by any of us as we found some fish that were willing to eat our assorted sow bugs, midges, and little baetis nymphs, plus we all stayed warm enough.

That said, I could go for some rising fish on the lower Madison sooner rather than later. The winter midge dry fly fishing can be a really fun time as the bugs tend to be everywhere and thick as a prime caddis hatch when the weather is right. There’s typically no need to worry about fishing little bitty dry patterns, as the fish tend to look more for the cluster than the individuals during the hatch. I always like to have a few midge cluster patterns, sparkle duns, and maybe a CDC midge emerger with me in case things get technical. More than anything, I’m hoping for mild temps and little to no wind with overcast conditions to all come together before I head out. Enjoy, this week might be ideal!