A walk in the park

 

 

 

This time a people park.

 

 

Esperanza.

 

Pride of Barbados.

 

 

Texas sage bursting forth.

 

A day at the park

 

 

 

The dog park.

 

 

A budding garden

 

 

It looks like an ordinary welcome mat.

 

But there is something else going on.  Zoom in close.

 

It’s a tiny volunteer garden that popped up after we got rain a week ago and the mat got wet.  The mat is in front of the deck stairs, in the shade of the driveway cover.  These are just the primary “first leaves” so we can’t I.D. them.  We could give the mat a good brushing and dry it out in the sun to save it, but at the risk of sacrificing the mat, we’d rather watch for secondary leaves to appear and figure out who these hardy pioneers are.

 

We’ll call it a science experiment.

 

 

FW: Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 4/10/2026

 

 

It’s that time of year again.

 

We’re getting weekly updates from Madison River Outfitters, thinking they can tempt us with flyfishing opportunities in Montana.

 

 

 

From: Madison River Outfitters <trout@madisonriveroutfitters.com>
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2026 8:30 AM
To: Steve Taylor <spt@thetaylorcompany.net>
Subject: Madison River Outfitters Fishing Report 4/10/2026

 

Madison River Fishing Report                     Weather View this email in your browser We're Starting to get Rolling Here in West Yellowstone! ............................................................................................................................... Connor roped this beautiful brown on the Upper Madison this weekend .with Guide Tyler ............................................................................................................................... Montana Hebgen & Quake Lakes: Not surprisingly, the ice is starting to come off pretty early this year. Both arms of Hebgen are now clear of the hard stuff, and the good majority of the main lake is open too! Quake is on the same page as Hebgen, with a good chunk of it being open, mostly centralized towards the outflow side. Get out there and strip some leeches and chironomids before the lakes flip! Flies We're Fishing: #14 Black & Red Nugget, #14 O.S. Buzzer, #16 Lake Prince, #8 Black or Olive Simi-Seal Leech, #8 Black Hot Bead Leech, #8 Vegas Booby Leech, #6 Black/Olive Wooly Bugger.  Madison Flows: Hebgen Lake Inflow: 778 CFS Hebgen Lake Outflow: 665 CFS Kirby Flows: 770 CFS Cameron Flows: 960 CFS  Water Temp @ Kirby: High 49F                                     Low 37F  Flows as of 12PM April 9th 2026 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .................................................................................................................................. A bottlenosed brute out of the Upper Madison this Weekend for Connnor's Dad Al .................................................................................................................................. Upper Madison: The 50 Mile Riffle is fishing great right now. its getting some mid-day green tea color from our early warm days but nothing too bad. Nymphing has been super solid as always, with plenty of fish coming to hand on stoneflies, small mayfly imitations, and smaller midges. The risers are there on days with no wind sipping midges ranging in sizes from 22 all the way to 18. Streamers have been getting them both stripped and swung as well.  Flies We're Fishing: #16 & #18 TBH Red Neck, #18 Olive SH Hare's Ear, #12 & #14 Black Rubberleg Stone, #16 Firestarter, #16 Sunburst Perdigon, #20 JJ Midge, #16 Bucky's Midge Cluster, #20 Griffith's Gnat, #20 Parachute Adams, #8 Black Hot Bead Leech, #10 Black Jig Leech, #6 Mini Sex Dungeon Black or Olive, #8 Kreelex, #6 Copper Zonker ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ............................................................................................................................. BENT! ............................................................................................................................. YNP Madison, Firehole, Gibbon: The Madison from the Wyoming/Montana border to its entrance into Hebgen Lake is open to fishing year round, and beginning this year, the Firehole and Gibbon will be open upon the park's opening to wheeled vehicles - Friday April 17th. Expect water to be a bit higher and more off color than in years past with the Memorial Day opener, but there should be plenty of early hatches in there! Gallatin: The YNP section of the Gallatin will open as usual with the rest of the parks general fishing season on the Saturday of memorial day, May 23rd. The Montana stretch to big sky is fishing OK but is going to be pretty chalky and opaque downstream of the Taylor Fork. The river is still very cold but we are turning some fish almost exclusively on small nymphs.  NE Corner: Everything up in the NE Corner is going to be too high & muddy to bother fishing until June or July. YNP Flows Firehole: 286 CFS  Gibbon: 147 CFS Madison: 479 CFS Yellowstone Outlet: 591 CFS Gallatin: 466 CFS  Lamar: 1390 CFS Soda Butte: gage is gone! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get out there!   ~Product of the Week~ Patagonia Torrentshell Rain Jacket     Get prepared early for nasty spring weather with this bulletproof rain shell from Patagonia. Simple and unpretentious, Patagonia's trusted Torrentshell 3L Jacket uses 3-layer H2No® Performance Standard technology for exceptional waterproof/breathable performance, all-day comfort and long-lasting waterproof durability. Fair Trade Certified™ sewn.   We are now booking trips for the 2026 season and still have some openings for this spring, summer, and fall season.  Be sure to make your reservations early to ensure you can book the guide you want.   Book Now   Madison River Outfitters Gift Card     Free shipping on all domestic orders over $200 Orders typically ship the next business day!       MRO Logo Wear - Hats, Fishing Shirts & Gear     Read the MRO fishing blog here   If you have a fishing buddy that may enjoy our newsletters please feel free to forward this email to them.   Subscribe To Our Newsletter!   Be sure to follow us below on Instagram and Facebook to see our daily picture posts.   Facebook Instagram Website Email   Give us a ring at 1.406.646.9644 for the most updated reports Current Shop Hours After 4/15/2026 8:00am-5pm On-line Fly Shop Open 24/7 Our shop address is: 125 Canyon Street West Yellowstone, MT 59758 Our mailing address is: PO Box 398 West Yellowstone, MT 59758   unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  Copyright © 2018 Madison River Outfitters, All rights reserved.