Half way through June, and it's still raining. We've seen some form of rain every day this month, and the forecast calls for yet another week of gray, wet weather. As much as I'm looking forward to those long, warm days in July this moisture has been great for the fish and the fisheries alike.  We really couldn't ask for better conditions in June.

This "hatchy" weather continues to spur good fishing on the Firehole, Henry's Fork, and now the Madison. Flows on the "50-mile riffle" are still below 800cfs out of Hebgen, and the water is virtually clear. Cool temps have confined most of the fishing to nymphs like rubberlegs, "san jose worms", and beadheads, but fair numbers of march browns have brought fish up in the afternoons throughout the float stretch. When the weather finally does warm up and get nice, dry fly fishing is primed to pop.

The H-Fork continues to pump out good numbers of pmd's, and drakes are imminent in the lower river. Today marks the opener of the famed Railroad Ranch stretch through Harrimen State Park. Undoubtedly, it also marks a morning of widespread hang-overs in Last Chance following the return of Larry Keel and his intoxicating (literally) brand of blue grass to the annual TroutHunter opener party last night.

In other local piscatorial news Montana FWP begins work today on the Madison River's Windy Point Fishing Access Site. The site will remain closed through the busy season while efforts are underway to build a new, shiny boat ramp with all the regular features - vault toilet, graded road, designated parking. Which begs the question; What was wrong with the last 90 days when there weren't a couple of hundred local outfitters, whose fees went toward the funding of this project, trying to use the river?