The family heads down to the West Fork area of the Madison River to fish the water just South of West Fork Cabin Camp, where Michael and I stayed in 2017. This is all riffle water with very few exposed boulders…
West Fork area on the Madison River…
Breakfast round of go-fish with Cairo…
Cairo…ready for a busy day…
These are a few of the streamer patterns I packed for this section of the Madison River…three Articulated and one Cone Head…
The view from the bridge at West Fork on the Madison River…
It was bit windy when we arrived…
Aimee, Diane and Cairo…dressed for wind…
Looking North…Up the 80 mile riffle…
Looking South…
Michael out in the middle…
Cairo lending suggestions, advise and pro tips…
Michael retrieving a streamer…
Using my Scott Centric 10′, 6wt. fly rod and Nautilus CCF X2 Reel…
The “old guy” geared up with new Simms G4Z Sockingfoot waders ( they are the bomb)…especially when one has an Ostomy…
The only boulder in the river within miles…
Michael with a nice Brown Trout…
These are the rods and reels Ally, Nick and I used here…(L-R) Scott Centric 10′, 6wt., Scott A2 10′, 6wt. and Winston BIIIX Super 10, 5wt.
My driver, heading back to the Madison Angler’s House…
Aimee wanted the entire family to spend the afternoon boating on Hebgen Lake. We took snacks and beverages to explore parts of the lake I had never seen in all of my trips up to that particular area…Cairo had a blast…
The Marina at Hebgen Lake, MT…
There were small Trout rising to Callibaetis emergers all over the place in here…
Zooming Hebgen Lake…
Snacking in a cove away from the wind…
There are lots of sheltered spots to pull into…
Cairo and Michael…
Cairo in the groove in the front of the boat, He was jumping up and down while Michael held on to his life vest strap. Probably the most fun of the entire trip…
After our boating adventure, we all headed to West Yellowstone and the pilgrimage to Blue Ribbon Flies…
Ally at the shop…
A view towards the rear of the shop…fly bins on the right…
…and towards the front of the shop…
Hair bin…I am not going to mince words. The quality of this onetime Fly Fishing Mecca has gone down the tubes since Craig Matthews is no longer involved. I am sorry to say that now, it’s just another run of the mill fly shop in West Yellowstone…
I did, however, pick up a few things…
TR’s Burgers in West Yellowstone for dinner, next to BRF and Michael rated as excellent Bison Burgers…
Michael photobombing Aimee…
…for the tourists…
Cairo’s crash landing at TR’s Burgers…
NEXT: Last Day in Montana….The Bridge and Moo’s 40th. celebration
PT/TB
PLANETTROUT: Fly Fishing, Fly Tying and LIFE
PlanetTrout 
