Madison River & Hebgen Dam problem

It's not easy to find the latest news in a small town. Heck, we're not really in town. But thank goodness for the Internet and the rumor grapevine.

I'm going to include parts of a river report from the Madison River Fishing Company here so you can get some of the updates on the problems plaguing Hebgen Dam. I've tried, but cannot find the older reports on their website. By pasting them here on our blog we'll be able to see the progress without losing the older updates.

Bad News (9/19/2008)

September 19th, 2008

The news is not good. The crew working on the dam was able to remove the damaged I-beam. They then tried to place more new stoplogs. It didn't work. The ones they tried to place were sucked through the intake tower. This means that there is damage to the concrete "guide" on the inside face of the tower. Plan B is now dead in the water. The flow is still at 3030 cfs out of the dam.

Right now there are 11 trucks en route here from Seattle with peices of a very large barge. There is a huge crane on site right now. It will take them at least several days to assemble the barge and get the crane mounted on it. They will then implement one of two contingency plans neither of which are complete. Bottom line; getting the flow back under control is very likely 3-4 or more days away. I think that PP&L is doing what they can. I also know they are freaking out. The 11th hour is fast approaching.

We'll keep updating this page as often as we get new information.

Here’s what else we know; the water level here, although high, has been stable now for two weeks. This flow level is nothing more than what we see here in the spring. The difference is, it’s not coming from small creeks and streams. The water is clear or at least relatively so. There are two feet of visibility in the river from about Lyons Bridge down through Ennis. Above that, in the Slide area, Reynolds and 3 Dollar it’s crystal. Despite what looks and feels like disbelief on the part of most of the angling public, the fishing here has been good and has, in fact even improved over the past few days. We’re getting our Indian summer at the moment so the weather is gorgeous. It’s supposed to hit 80 today and be there for the next few. There are lots of hoppers in places along the river. We’ve had guys out there every day both guiding and fishing for themselves and the reports have been eye opening. A deserted river, happy, healthy fish and dry fly fishing. No, it’s not what you may be used to if you come out here at this time every fall but we’ve sent some folks out and most, if not all have come back to the shop raving. The fish are eating streamers and nymphs very well and the hopper fishing along the banks has turned on here in the past couple days. The fish are, for the most part pushed out of the middle water and are stacked along the more sheltered banks. They don’t want to be out there in those heavy flows either. They are there and they are hungry. This high water also tends to make the larger fish more comfortable. Whether you believe me or not just think about what you COULD be missing.

There may be news updates on other websites, but the Madison River Fishing Company has been consistently providing lots of detail in their reports. Thank you to them! If you want to visit their website here is a link http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverMontanaFishing/Default.aspx