The salmonflies are just about over on the Madison. You can still find a few stragglers above 3 dollar bridge still, but in general you’ll find a lot more big bugs on the Yellowstone right now. We had some truly amazing dry fly eats this year on the Upper. There were a few days where we really had to battle the wind, but on calmer days the fishing was solid. The best fly, especially for skating your fly across surface was Paulson’s flutter bug. Other contenders included the Chubby Chernobyl golden stone, X-stimulartor, sofa pillow, and the Rogue Salmonfly. Wasn’t much need to fish a nymph dropper this year, the big fish were looking up and paying attention! Perhaps the biggest news this year was that the Lower Madison was literally on fire, consuming around 15,000 acres near Bear Trap Canyon. Luckily the 40-50 m.p.h. winds have slowed down and will make fighting the fire easier. For more info check out ABC Montana news…