Much to our dismay, we arrived to the sight of a full parking area not far from the town of West Yellowstone. As much as I hate fishing crowded water, the popularity of the spot affirmed the validity of our source - We were in for a treat! The Madison here is slow and meandering, similar in many ways to a spring creek. In many areas the Madison runs up along steep, rocky cliffs where I keep looking up half-expecting to see a curious black bear. The river bottom and bank is rocky and sandy providing great habitat for the fish to spawn out of the lake.
Alina and I worked upstream passing many other fishermen, some of whom were busy landing enormous fish. We ran into a couple heading back to their car who advised us to fish Baetis nymphs having had plenty of luck on the small fly. Excited to find our own stretch of water, we traveled at least a mile upstream before finding an unoccupied run. After covering the run without any action we elected to continue upstream. However, in the back of my mind I wondered how much of this water had already been hit earlier in the morning.
Coming around a bend in the river we came across another group of fishermen, one of which was fighting a very big fish. Alina and I watched in jealousy as the angler netted the big brown. What followed, however, made me sick. Anxious to snap a few pictures with his catch, the fisherman climbed up onto the bank and proceeded to remove the hook. The fish was placed on the grass where it flopped around for well over a minute as the angler clumsily removed the hook and had his picture taken. When he was satisfied the angler got back into the water and tossed the fish back in without any attempt at revival. Irritated, I actually waded out to pass along a few words of advice, and was only met with an angry dismissal. I wish I would have had the opportunity to explain the importance of good catch and release to that fisherman. What's the point in releasing fish if the don't survive the encounter! - Check out the KeepEmWet Movement <(Link) for some tips and advice!
Sorry for the rant. Anyways, Alina and I eventually found a really nice stretch of water that we invested a lot of time into. We focused on the deeper runs and pools without any luck before stopping for lunch. While I was eating, I noticed a single rising fish at the tail end of a run. Eager to go after it, I quietly waded out and worked a small Baetis nymph over the spot. On the third or fourth pass my indicator vanished and I set the hook. In an explosion of water, a huge brown with fantastic orange coloring leapt into the air. After a good fight Alina netted the fish and I let out a sigh of relief. We kept the fish submerged below the surface as I removed the fly and Alina got her the camera prepped. After a couple quick shots I revived the fish until it was ready to swim away on its own.
Alina, ready to bag a fish of her own quickly finished her lunch and headed for similar water in the run below. She immediately hooked (but lost) a few fish before we decided to look for more water. As the sun sank deeper and deeper into the Western horizon I switched to a streamer hoping to provoke an aggressive strike. Unfortunately neither Alina or I had much luck thereafter. Disappointed, we decided that we needed to start making our way back to the car. However, in a moment of pure brilliance Alina decided to throw a pink worm through a deeper section of side channel that we passed. On the first cast Alina hooked up. The fish stayed low for a few minutes before we got a good look at it - A huge Brownie with a big hump and a pointed jaw. After a tough fight in fast water I netted the behemoth. It was Alina's first spawning brown, and the smile on her face was priceless. Needless to say, high-fives, hugs, and fist bumps abounded
Our trip to the Upper Madison was a mix of tremendous highs and painful lows. It is a truly stunning and breathtaking environment to fish in. And as happy as we were to have each caught a really big fish, I just could not get over the thought of the fish that fell victim to poor catch-and-release. We are so lucky to live and fish in a state with abundant rivers and trout, but more effort needs to be made to educate anglers on proper catch-and-release practices. Please Keep Em Wet! The fish will thank you, and so will your fellow fishermen.
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