Upper Madison 3-25

Went out yesterday with fishing buddy Brian Koenig to hike on the upper madison for a change of pace and scenery, even though the lower is holding its consitentcy of good fishing i was curious to see what the trout were doing on the other side of the hill.  There was intermittent 15mph wind gusts most of the day and fairly chilly air temps which was a cold reminder that it is definately spring in Montana, although it did get very comfortable at times as well.  Just pack in layers and be prepared it ain't summer yet.  Started off the day with a beautiful brown on the sex fly (size 16) and the fishing just got better and better as the day moved on.  As far as nymphs went other than the sex fly mega Prince Nymphs (size 10), grey twinkles (size 18), orange and red san juans (size 12-14), olive rubberlegs (size 8) all picked up trout consistanly.  Had some heads rising to midges and picked up a few on griffiths gnats (size 18) which were not the easiest to present in the wind but as long as it was near the bank on those typical upper madison troughs the fish jumped on them within seconds of hitting the water. Only had one trout chase my yellow zoo cougar on the strip but the midge and nymph activity kept things entertaining.  Trout were hanging in riffles, deep pools, and the troughs along the banks so i say bring on the clouds and wind it clears up room on the river, i saw one other angler the whole day, and gets the fish ready to fight.

-Peter