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RazzaMaChaz

Madison River, Yellowstone, September

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I'll be going to Yellowstone this September with my car club (Miata). Although our schedule is fairly tight, I'd still like to get a couple hours on the Madison. If not the Madison, perhaps the Yellowstone at or above Buffalo Ford.

 

I haven't fished there in over 20 years. When I was there last I did well on Yellowstone Cutts with a black Wooly Bugger. We also did well on The Madison with a Prince Nymph hackled with partridge.

 

I'm wondering what kinds of wet patterns might be useful these days? I'm thinking bucktails, Buggers, and the like. Sizes? Not terribly interested in nymphing.

 

Because the Miata has limited cargo capacity I'll be bringing minimal gear. Probably bank fishing and wet wading.

 

I would love some suggestions.

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I just got back from the Madison. We didn't fish in the park. I did best near Ennis lake. I tried some streamers, but caught nothing. I have in the past on olive/brown sculpin type pattern of my own design. It was articulated and about 4" long. This year caught them on caddis nymphs, size 16 &18, copper john 16, Griffith gnat 18, stone fly nymph 12 and deer hair emerger 14. They obviously were not real picky. I think matching the size they are feeding on is more important that an a particular design or color. The hatch was nearly continous for 10AM till dark. Just get the nymphs down in the holes and channels. If you can't see bottom, you up your chances of catching something. At least that was my experience.

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I just got back from the Madison. We didn't fish in the park. I did best near Ennis lake. I tried some streamers, but caught nothing. I have in the past on olive/brown sculpin type pattern of my own design. It was articulated and about 4" long. This year caught them on caddis nymphs, size 16 &18, copper john 16, Griffith gnat 18, stone fly nymph 12 and deer hair emerger 14. They obviously were not real picky. I think matching the size they are feeding on is more important that an a particular design or color. The hatch was nearly continous for 10AM till dark. Just get the nymphs down in the holes and channels. If you can't see bottom, you up your chances of catching something. At least that was my experience.

 

 

That's good to know. Thanx.

 

Actually, since I posted the OP, I got to thinking that a float trip for the Mrs and me might not be a bad idea.

 

I'd still like more pattern recommendations, though. I've got a couple patterns of my own I'd like to try and could certainly tie some more.

 

Sculpin patterns seem popular. Never fished a sculpin pattern. Any Recs there?

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It's been a few years, but I've fished the Madison in the park, near $3 bridge and down below Ennis Lake. I don't think I caught anything in the park, not on the Madison, anyway (other streams were better to me). Near $3 Bridge, I did quite well fishing a size 18 red Serendipity. Below Ennis, I had a guide, and I fished his flies. As I recall, they were mostly crayfish patterns fished really deep under a strike indicator.

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This will give an indication of what is going on in September...

 

YNP%20HATCH%20CHART_zps6zmp6peb.jpg

 

If you don't have a lot of time, plant yer'self right here, on the Madison, just above $3.00 Bridge. It's about 200 yards up from the parking lot ( on the side where the lockbox is) . Use a Partridge & Her,.Rainbow Warrior (Black), Shop Vac, Krystal Dip, $3,00 Bridge Serendipity, small Baetis/Bwo nymphs. Emerging Glossosoma, sunken ant patterns...most of the hatching bugs at that time are small I would also suggest carrying #16 & #18 Missing Link Caddis in Olive and Tan, #18 Royal Wulff Cripples...for streamer advise, drop in to Kelly Galloup's place, which is just up the road...It can get get real cold on some days in September - which is not especially conducive to wet wading...

 

set-3-honey-041_zpss3dmezlc.jpg

 

The channels section, below Ennis and before the lake, fishes better in October...

 

 

PT/TB

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Hoot owl restrictions on the Madison below Ennis. Other closures noted below:

 

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/restrictions/waterClosure.html

 

I think the Yellowstone River in the park is a shallow mirror of it's former self because the lake trout have pretty much devastated the native cuttroat population. You will do better in the drainages that do not connect ot Yellowstone lake. When I last fished Buffalo Ford, the number of fly fishers were very few. Maybe it has gotten better.

 

Call the folks at Blue Ribbon Flies before you go. They will know.

 

"The Yellowstone cutthroat trout population in the Yellowstone Lake ecosystem has declined substantially since the mid-1980s. Lake-wide sampling began in 1968 and in 1984 the average number of YCT caught at survey sites reached 19.1 per net. In 2010 that number had fallen to an all-time low of 5.3 per net. The number of YCT caught in 2013 climbed back to 13.2 per net. The increase in catch was primarily due to an influx of young, juvenile cutthroat trout within the system. However, increased catches of large older-age fish also occurred—an indication that smaller fish are surviving into adulthood. The cutthroat trout had a mean total length of 382 millimeters in 2013, a much lower mean length than observed in earlier years. In 2013, most cutthroat trout (47%) were large adults between 430–620 millimeters in total length, while juveniles and subadults (35%) were less than 325 millimeters in total length.

Monitoring at Clear Creek, a Yellowstone Lake tributary, began in 1945. The number of YCT spawning there peaked at more than 70,000 in 1978 and fell to 538 by 2007. The decline is attributed to predation by nonnative lake trout, low water during drought years, and the nonnative parasite that causes whirling disease."

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/Yellowstone-Cutthroat-Trout.htm

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