Dearborn, Upper Madison, and Hyalite Reservoir- 4/16, 4/17 & 4/18

I've had the past half week or so off so was able to make it out a lot before the runoff hit too hard. I started out up on the Dearborn with three of my good buddies, for two of which this was their first fishing trip in a couple years. When we threw out the first lines, Jason Fix hooked into a fat 20 inch rainbow right of the bat and we figured we were in for one of those days. However with 80 degree weather the water started to turn color around 11, and the fishing stopped dead. It wasn't until around 3 that I threw on a san jaun worm and managed to hook into a nice bow. Only problem was that this was the only san jaun between the four of us. Still it was gorgeous weather and with the scenic Dearborn river it proved to be a good trip.

When we got back into town, I headed to the Upper Madison for another day of amazing weather and fishing. Although I didn't see too many risers, the subsurface action was phenomenal. Mega princes, green soft hackles, and bow river buggers were the most successful flies. Then on the 18th I biked up to Hyalite and met up with Jason Fix for some afternoon fishing. We had a lot of luck with small black streamers (stripped fairly slowly) trailed with small princes and lightening bugs. The weather was nice for the ride up, but thunderstorms and a small snow flurry rolled in for the later part of the day. I managed to land the first grayling and the last bit of frost bite (knock on wood) of the season. The fishing is still good and I highly suggest getting out again before the runoff reaches its peak.