Throwing streamers on the Madison River

keith bigelow · Webmaster

Throwing streamers on the Madison River

brian clemens · Senior Member

i love those flys he ties. i have a rusy Galloup's SDungeon and i tell u what it blows fish up on the truckee.

get pics keith, awesome brownie

keith bigelow · Webmaster

Brian,

if you love throwing streamers you've got to visit this place.
Floating down the Madison 12-miles, banging the bank with these enormous streamers the entire way is such a rush. These streamers evoke some kind of primal response and these fish just attack the streamer. it's amazing to watch.

Nohackle · Senior Member

I don't know if you had a chance to meet Kelly Galloup. I met him 3 or 4 years ago when the flyfishing show was in San Rafael. He has a book and a dvd on streamer fishing. I bought his book and commented that I didn't have a dvd player at that time. He offered to send me a VHS tape of his streamer video if I just paid him the postage. So I got A $30 video for $7! Two weeks later I got the video. He's obviously a pretty nice guy and a great guy to talk to.

keith bigelow · Webmaster

Kelly is almost always hanging around the fly shop. He's a very nice guy, easy to talk to and happy to share all his knowledge. Last year I bought both the video and book and they're both great. His technique is a bit controversial amongst other guiding outfits but believe me it works !!!

He rents out cabins right on the bank of the Madison, in the "no-float" zone. There's even great fishing right out your back door. The cabins are only $85/night.

brian clemens · Senior Member

ya ive had first hand experience with those streamers on the truckee river above glenshire bridge. the fish just go nuts and dont let go, unless the line breaks. lol

well maybe one day when things settle down on my end ill just have to take a trip to the madison.

dumbpig · Veteran Member

Curious to know what is so "controversial" to the other guiding outfits? The techniques do work very well, kind of funny to hear that smile

Did you happen to go through the town of Ennis. Love that statue of the flyfisherman with one on in the town square. Make sure you get into a pitcher of Moose Drool as well. Beautiful place that Montana

Codym · Senior Member

Nice fish, that storm on thursday was crazy wasnt it?!

keith bigelow · Webmaster

Those were the biggest hail I have ever seen. They hurt when they hit your hands. We had to pump a couple gallons of water out of the boat at the end of that downpour.

Dinner and a cold Moose Drool at the Grizzly can't be beat!

WT · Senior Member

keith bigelow wrote:

His technique is a bit controversial amongst other guiding outfits but believe me it works !!!

Keith correct me if I am wrong, but from what I know his techniques are controversial because some feel that you are triggering territorial strikes and not really targeting feeding fish.

Personally I love fishing big streamers, and am greatful for what kelly has done. His flies are sick, the techniques are a blast, and the fish you catch are huge!

Can anyone else expound on the controversy?

P.S. Looks like another trip of a life time! Thanks for sharing, and letting us live through your photos.

Nohackle · Senior Member

The one thing I thought of that is controversial about Kelly's streamer fishing is where he says that big fish can hold. He says that big fish often lie in shallow water that is out of the main current. He states that quite often he sees anglers making the mistake of wading through this water that holds these big fish. In other words, they are spoking the very fish they are trying to nail. In his streamer video several of the spots he targets were places I had previously thought would have been too shallow to hold big fish. I was under the impression that big fish always needed deep water that would provide them cover. But Kelly's video disputes this. This is probably the single most revealing thing I learned from his video.

keith bigelow · Webmaster

Kellys tactic is to cast slightly upstream, slapping the bank as close as possible in very shallow water, mending downstream against the bank and strip that fly downstream. You really have to strip quickly with a fast moving river like the Madison. This obviously triggers some kind of instinctive response in the fish to chase the baitfish that's swimming quickly downstream.

There seem to be lot's of fish that will chase the streamer out of it's holding area and others that will attack and eat.

It's a real rush because the majority of the cases the chases and eats are easily seen from the boat.

I turned over 70 fish in a 12 mile float, landing 15 or 20.

AC22 · Senior Member

Dont have to much fun up there....couldnt make it to that part of the country this year....after 3 consecutive years of solid fishing up there im thinking I might need to take a trip in late september........we will see....Enjoy yourself Keith.