The Madison is still fishing well.  With the cold, snowy weather that swept through the region last night, streamers will be bringing in some nice fish this week.  As always, use this rule of thumb: light streamers for bright, sunny days and darker streamers for overcast days.  The Browns live to much on a big, bad streamer; but they can be a bit moody about when they want to take them, so if you don’t get a bite quickly just keep at it.  The trout are in there.  Today’s pic is a cold weather rainbow taken on a streamer on the lower in Beartrap - nice fish Chris. 

The midge fishing on the Madison has been excellent… look for the hatches to be most prolific during the afternoons (i.e. – the warmest part of the day).  If you don’t see a hatch coming off, try some small nymphs – San Juan Worms, Pheasant Tails, and egg imitations are all good bets.

This time of year makes for fun, exciting fishing.  Traffic on the river is down to almost nothing and the scenery is gorgeous.  So load up the neoprenes, fleece, and the camp stove and head down to the Madison for classic early winter fishing.

Flows on the Upper River at Kirby were up slightly- 768 cfs this morning at 0730, with today’s average 1070 cfs.  Water temperature on the Upper peaks at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon – only a one degree drop from last week.  Below Ennis Lake on the Lower River flows are still 1260 cfs at 0730 with today’s average 1570 cfs.  The lower river is on my list for this week. 

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