Day 5 AM: Madison in the Park - What's Today's Special?

On June 26th, 27th, and 28th, I fished the meadow section of Madison in the Park in the morning till noon, headed back to town for something, and went back fishing to Muleshoe Bend of Firehole, almost like a routine. For these three days of magnificent match-the-hatch with dry-flies, I'd like to separate what I've experienced to morning and evening posts for each day.

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June 26th, with great dry-fly experience of 25th (and experienced an iffy condition along Madison below Quake Lake), I decided to stick with Madison in the Park, particularly the meadow water section. I am familiar to around Madison Junction. I fished with nymphs and soft-hackles last fall. Locating chutes and pools, I caught several trout. I wanted to push myself to challenge if I can repeat match-the-hatch as I did on the previous day.

This section is much harder to fish and wade than below, say Upper Haynes and Talus. While the surface appears smooth, the river's bottom is full of drop-offs, mounds, and weed banks.

I started to with nymphs without any success but snagging weed beds. Meanwhile I started to see White Miller Caddis were flying and little fish were rising.

I rigged up two soft-hackles and started to swing down-stream. I only hooked one little fish but I believed that I was doing right. As seeing more rising trout and caddis, I switched into X Caddis. I had already tied a suggested White Miller imitation by Blue Ribbon Flies but I didn't carry them because I was expecting PMD hatch!!! But regular X Caddis in light olive,

trailed with Nick's Caddis Soft-hackle did the job right.

Starting with this one, I really lost count. Trout took my flies on surface, subsurface, and while swinging. There was a wildlife jam on the road so with plenty of audience (only if they gave me a damn), I kept hauling fish!!!!

The biggest catch was this 16-inch brown on Nick's Soft-hackle. Casting to the bank from middle of the river, this one took the Nick's on surface before swinging. But the visibility of X Caddis let me know the take and I set the hook!! This is the deadlies combo!!

A nice hump back!! Soon he will go back and force Hebgen and Madison and grow bigger.
I noticed he had a couple of scars on the back. Maybe an osprey attack, I imagined??

This one was nothing huge but I saw he was calculating his rise to my X Caddis from four feet below!!!

My Frog's Fanny ran out by noon so I stopped.

I didn't see PMD at all!! At least it must have been an unnoticeable amount. I dropped by Upper Haynes where I fished the previous day. Eating my lunch, I noticed White Miller was all over also.

Enough lesson. For the morning of 27th and 28th, I carried both my Mayfly box and White Miller patterns!!