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Cheap thrills at Three Dollar Bridge

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This brown trout slammed a Jacklin's Giant Stone in soft water along the bank at Three Dollar Bridge on the Madison River. Photo by Ben Pierce.

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By BEN PIERCE Chronicle Outdoors

For 15 long years I’d managed to thoroughly enjoy the Madison River without ever setting foot in its flows at Three Dollar Bridge.

“What?!” my friend Marie Stull said as we drove Highway 287 south from Ennis on Thursday hoping to catch the salmonfly hatch. “Where the hell have you been fishing?”

“McAtee, Raynolds Pass,” I offered meekly.

I felt as though I were being scolded, and rightly so. Three Dollar Bridge – with its boulder fields, islands and wade-only fishing regulation – is my new favorite water on the Madison.

Thursday proved an exceptional day of fishing top-water salmonfly patterns to large and eager fish.

I’ve been fly-fishing in Montana and chasing the salmonfly hatch well over a decade now and never before have I hit the hatch like this.

We arrived at the water early to find hordes of other anglers. Boat launches at McAtee Bridge, Pallisades and Lyons Bridge were already filled up with Clackas and Ros and Hydes ripping down the river – still flowing at more than 1,000 cubic feet per second above average near Cameron. There were a dozen cars at Three Dollar Bridge when we pulled in, anglers lining the banks every 50 yards for as far as we could see.

It didn’t matter.

Casting a Flutter Bug, the first trout came up sure and strong in soft water along the bank. It ripped off 30 feet of line, gaining strength in the strong current before coming to hand.

For nine hours the fishing continued to captivate with breathtaking rises, firm fights and the delight of catching a hatch many chase for a lifetime.

Miraculously, the one Flutter Bug in my fly box lasted the entire day. Fishing 4X tippet to trout like these, I was sure it would break off.

My fishing companion, Will Jordan, picked up several great fish on a Jacklin’s Giant Stone – the only one in his box – and kept it the full day as well.

Even Marie, who’d written off chasing he salmonfly hatch years ago, couldn’t get enough. She called and cancelled her dinner plans to buy us a few extra hours on the water.

“This is the most bugs I’ve ever seen,” she said, the yellow sallies, golden stones and salmonflies whirling in the wind around us.

By the end of the day our arms were sore.

“That’s the best I’ve ever seen it,” I said as we drove back to Bozeman.

“Me, too,” Jordan said.

It felt like a day to celebrate, but we kept the drinking to a minimum.

There’s no excuse for a hangover when the fishing is this good.

 

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  1. Better late than never: Salmonfly hatch makes appearance on Madison River
  2. Salmonfly watch: Part deux
  3. Welcome to Montana, we got it good
  4. Making sense of stoneflies: Annual salmonfly hatch keeps anglers guessing
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This entry was posted by on Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 10:18 am and is filed under Bozeman, Fishing, Madison River. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Ben Pierce lives, works and plays in Bozeman, Montana. He blogs about the outdoors for Chronicle Outdoors. Catch him on the river, in the mountains or at bpierce@dailychronicle.com.

Comments

  • JB

    Enough already. I’m tired of hearing about how great a day you had.

  • http://www.chronicleoutdoors.com/ Ben Pierce

    Ha! Would have been greater if you’d been there.

    Don’t worry, the summer is young.

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