Madison River! September 2018

First day fishing in Montana, or anywhere else in Big Sky country, ever. Finally made it to the Yellowstone area after all these years. First day was a cold overcast Baetis day. Fish were sipping them voraciously in certain slack water spots. Problem was those spots are rare. I was surprised how swift the water moves on this large river. If the water wasn't moving so fast, you could cross it at will as it is surprisingly shallow. Hooked into a fish on the first cast after a long hike downstream from 3 Dollar Bridge. There were fishermen everywhere from all parts of the country--very crowded river. Access was way more difficult than I thought. The people who have built homes along the river really try to lock it down, and the best way to fish it is to float it. I have heard it hasn't been quite the same since some dam problems upstream for the past 9 or so years, but supposedly that has been resolved or is close to it.

Fish were very healthy and fought hard.

Caught a lot of fish! Didn't have the video on most of the day as I didn't want to worry too much about it and to enjoy the fishing more. This is probably the most famous river in North America and many dogs, especially Labradors, have been named after it.

A #16 black Frenchie nymph caught almost all the fish. I have a red hot spot on it and white ice dub. I think it does a great job for Baetis nymphs.

Biggest fish landed on the day. Great fight! Lost a similar sized fish, probably a little bigger, and it was a brown trout. Broke me off on the rocks.

I'll be back! The cold wind turned to sunshine later. It was snowing in the mountains--Winter comes early in the Yellowstone area.