Winter 2025-26: “T-Shirt” Hatches | MidCurrent

Bear in mind what the Madison used to appear like in December and January? | photograph by Reimar

For those who had been on the water within the Rockies this December, you probably seen one thing lacking: ice. A record-slow begin to the Western snowpack started this fall, with snow water equivalents monitoring at barely 30% of common in elements of Colorado and Montana.

For the weekend warrior, this has been a sudden present. Information studies from the South Platte and the Madison describe “balmy” 50-degree days with lively midges and even late-season Baetis hatching in late December. Reddit’s r/flyfishing is flooded with “New 12 months’s Eve on the River” posts exhibiting anglers in hoodies quite than parkas.

In a typical December, the fly fishing narrative shifts decisively to tailwaters, measurement 24 midges, and the numb-fingered perseverance of the die-hard nympher. Nonetheless, late 2025 delivered a climatic plot twist. An unseasonably heat climate system, stretching throughout the Northern Hemisphere, has stalled the winter freeze-up, maintaining river flows steady and bug hatches lively gone their regular expiration date. For anglers keen to courageous the shorter days, this anomaly has unlocked a “bonus season” of dry fly fishing that feels extra like late October than the winter solstice.

However the veteran guides are nervous. This unseasonably heat winter motion suggests a brutal low-flow summer time forward for 2026. The chatter in fly outlets from Missoula to Durango is cautious: “Benefit from the straightforward wading now, however pray for a Miracle March dump.”