Remember what the Madison utilized to appear like in December and January?|picture by Reimar
If you were on the water in the Rockies this December, you likely saw something missing out on: ice. A record-slow start to the Western snowpack started this fall, with snow water equivalents tracking at hardly 30% of average in parts of Colorado and Montana.
For the weekend warrior, this has actually been an unforeseen present. Guide reports from the South Platte and the Madison explain “pleasant” 50-degree days with active midgets and even late-season Baetis hatching in late December. Reddit’s r/flyfishing is flooded with “New Year’s Eve on the River” posts revealing anglers in hoodies instead of parkas.
In a normal December, the fly fishing narrative shifts decisively to tailwaters, size 24 midgets, and the numb-fingered determination of the die-hard nympher. Nevertheless, late 2025 provided a weather plot twist. An unseasonably warm weather condition system, extending throughout the Northern Hemisphere, has actually stalled the winter season freeze-up, keeping river streams steady and insect hatches active long past their typical expiration date. For anglers going to brave the much shorter days, this abnormality has actually opened a “perk season” of dry fly fishing that feels more like late October than the winter season solstice.
However the veteran guides fidget. This unseasonably warm winter season action recommends a harsh low-flow summertime ahead for 2026. The chatter in fly stores from Missoula to Durango bewares: “Take pleasure in the simple wading now, however wish a Wonder March dump.”
