It’s been another great week of fishing on the Upper Madison, and the afternoon thunderstorms have been keeping our creeks full and our water temps nice and cool. Â It’s looking like another week of highs in the mid 70’s to low 80’s with more storms on the way through Wednesday, and the dry fly fishing continues to produce some high quality fish throughout the entire river.
The Upper Madison is in it’s prime right now and the river is exploding with insect activity. Â Flows are just about perfect for both the upper and lower stretches of the river, and both dry fly and nymph anglers have a lot of different options to choose from. The forecast is calling for highs in the mid to high 70’s with relatively warm nights this week, so it’s just about perfect conditions to get in on some of the best fishing of the year.
The Upper Madison has been fishing well and the insect activity is just about to explode throughout the entire river. Â We should also start to see a little bump in flows at some point this week, as Hebgen is just shy of 99% full and it will definitely be welcomed by all the fish living at lower water levels above Lyon’s Bridge. Â The forecast for the week ahead is calling for near perfect weather, with nighttime lows in the 40’s and highs in the 70’s so now is a great time to hit the Upper Madison if you get the chance.
Madison River Fishing Report for June 23rd, 2019 Dam: 822 cfs Kirby: 1,240 cfs Varney: 1,920 cfs Just when it was starting to feel like Summer again we had another cold front move in and received a decent amount of snow on the Solstice…Reason number 21,384 we love Montana. Â The drop in water temperatures will …
The Upper Madison has been fishing well these days and we are currently sitting at roughly 2 feet of visibility and green above the West Fork. We should start to see a little rise in water levels over the next few days as afternoon thunderstorms have been producing a pretty decent amount of rain in the valleys as well as in the mountains. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start to increase flows out of Hebgen by the weekend either, as the lake is 94% full with more rain on the way and we will keep you updated as conditions start to change.
It’s been cold and wet on the Upper Madison over the last week, and the cooler temperatures have slowed much of the melt from the surrounding creeks as a result.  As the inflow into Hebgen has decreased, so has the outflow and we are currently sitting around 1,650 cfs above the West Fork and just over 2,000 cfs around town.  These are great flows for this time of year, as we are usually too high and dirty to do any floating below Lyon’s  by the third week in May.  Visibility in the upper wade stretch is around 3 feet and green, and most of the mud being dumped in by the West Fork isn’t completely mixed until you get to Palisades.  Clarity is just fine around Ennis as well, particularly for throwing nymphs and streamers.
The Upper Madison continues to fish extremely well, and it appears that we may have turned a corner today, as highs in the sixties and seventies are in the forecast for at least the next week. That should definitely get the creeks going, and I think it’s safe to say that our Spring runoff is just around the corner. We have seen the West Fork of the Madison and Cabin/Beaver Creeks putting in some dirty water over the last five days but the colder nights have prevented them from really getting going. A little color is never a bad thing though, and the upper portions of the river will continue to fish through the rise as long as it comes up gradually.
Fishing on the Upper Madison has been solid lately despite the cold snap and brutally frigid winds that came in over the weekend and lasted through Monday night. Obviously you want to keep an eye on the forecast these days if you plan on floating, as 25-30 mph north winds are not anybody’s idea of a good time. The good news is that you can usually find a little shelter in the upper wade stretches as well as between the lakes if wind is an issue. From the looks of things we are going to start warming up a little bit around here on Thursday, with highs in the fifties and sixties expected through the weekend. All the ramps are good to go in the float section with the exception of Ennis, but it shouldn’t be more than another week or two.
More good reports have been rolling in this week, as the Upper Madison continues to hold its own well into April and the fishing has been excellent. Wind has been the biggest factor as far as floating is concerned, but you can always find some shelter in the upper stretches if 25-30 mph gusts are in the forecast. Otherwise we are looking at perfect spring temperatures this week, with highs in the mid fifties to mid sixties and relatively warm nighttime lows.
The river continues to fish well despite cold water temps this month, and the best window of opportunity seems to be in that 10:00 – 5:00 range. Â We should start to see water temperatures warm up quite a bit this week, as the forecast is calling for sunshine and highs in the fifties through Friday. Â All the boat ramps from Raynold’s to Burnt Tree are open for business, but it’s still going to be a while before Ennis and Valley garden are ready to go. Â You still can’t back a trailer down to the water at Raynold’s but you can get it close enough to slide your boat down on the snow. Also worth noting is that the road down to Three Dollar Bridge was plowed last week, which will save you the 10 minute walk down from the highway parking lot.
