Upper Madison
The Upper Madison is still fishing steadily, especially in the morning and later evenings. With the hot weather we had this last weekend and the hesitant water releases from Hebgen, I was getting a bit nervous about how the Madison would be fairing at this point; luckily, they bumped the outflow up to ~1,000, the river isn't too colored up, and the fish have adapted well.
Flows/Temperatures (as of July 9th, click the name for real-time numbers )
Hebgen Outflow - 815.5 CFS
Kirby - 1070 CFS
Kirby High/Low Temps - 64/55 F
Cameron - 1260 CFS
Cameron High/Low Temps - 68/59 F
Upper Madison
The Upper Madison just keeps getting better. The walk/wade section has been fishing exceptionally, with clouds of caddis and some stoneflies mixed in for good measure. I spotted some salmonflies hanging around still, but it's been most productive to throw a golden stone or sally; they're probably seeing more foam salmonflies than real at this point.
Dry fly fishing, or a dropper setup, is the way to go; rises are consistent, and fish aren't keyed in on one bug in particular. With this in mind, change your fly if you aren't getting eats, and don't be afraid to dip into those terrestrials either, it's never too early!
P.S. We've got some very warm weather coming up this weekend so make sure to check water temperatures regularly, and avoid fishing in the hottest times of day.
Dry Flies - Chubby Chernobyl, Elk Hair Caddis, Carnage Hopper, Fools Gold
Nymphs - Skinny Dip, Olive Hot Spot, Shop Vac
Flows
Hebgen Outflow - 825 CFS
Kirby - 1110 CFS
Cameron - 1360 CFS
(Flows as of the evening of July 2nd)
Upper Madison
After the days of heavy rain we had over the weekend, I was admittedly worried about how the fishing would be after the sun came out; I'm happy to say the Madison is in great shape. Salmonflies are throughout the walk/wade section (spotted some around $3 Bridge on Thursday), along with swaths of caddis, goldens, sally's, and PMD's sprinkled throughout.
Once the sun hits the water, it's go time for dry flies- I was able to rise fish on big and small bugs alike. The West Fork is bringing in some "chocolate milk" water, but I haven't seen a noticeable drop in dry fly (or nymph) eats because of it.