Madison River Fishing Report

The Madison river fishing report from The Slide Inn is the most thorough and accurate report you will find on the Upper Madison River. These reports are written by people who are on the river every day and people you can trust to give you the straight scoop. If you are looking for the latest Madison river fishing report, be sure to give the shop a call and one of our staff members will bring you up to speed.

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Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019July 14, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for July 14th, 2018

Dam: 1,300 cfs

Kirby: 1,480 cfs

Varney: 1,810 cfs

The Upper Madison continues to hold its own throughout July and we have had some of the best dry fly fishing we have seen in years over the last several weeks. That said, it has been a scorcher out there over the last few days and fish have been putting their heads down once it starts to creep into the the mid 80’s and 90’s. If dries are what you seek then you’ll want to stick more to the 8:00 am – 1:30 pm time slot, and then go hit the evening caddis from 6:30 pm to dark. This should hopefully change once we get a break in the weather, and highs go back to the high seventies and low eighties.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019July 5, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for July 4th, 2018

Dam: 1,300 cfs

Kirby: 1,510 cfs

Varney: 1,960 cfs

It’s hard to believe that July is already and with some of the most precipitous weeks we’ve seen in June for quite some time, it has been really nice to bask in good ol’ fashion Summer sunshine over the last week. The river has dropped to around 1,500 at Kirby and just over 2,000 cfs in town which is pretty much the perfect flow for both sections of the river.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019June 21, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for June 20th, 2018

Dam: 2,510 cfs

Kirby: 2,990 cfs

Varney: 3,710 cfs

NorthWestern Energy had been holding flows back last week in order to fill up Hebgen and with all the rain we received it got to full pool in a hurry. With a full lake and a lot more water coming into it than they were letting out, it was time to bring up the flows in a big way and we are back to almost 3,000 cfs at the Kirby Gauge. Nobody knows when they will start to bring the water down, but our best guess is that it will start to drop over the weekend.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019June 5, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for June 5th, 2018 Dam: 2,140 cfs Kirby: 2,950 cfs Varney: 4,550 cfs Clarity update. The Upper Madison has cleared up considerably over the last few days and we are now sitting at over two and a half feet of visibility above the West Fork. The West Fork is still putting …

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019June 2, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for June 2nd, 2018

Dam: 2,340 cfs

Kirby: 3,070 cfs

Varney: 4,550 cfs

The Upper Madison continues to hold its own in some of the biggest water we’ve seen in the last seven years. Most of the river is blown out a mile or so below Lyon’s Bridge, and while you can certainly catch some fish in the channels around Ennis as we would still recommend heading up river and targeting the wade section between Quake and Lyon’s. The flush that was planned to last three days turned into week due to all the water coming into the lake, but it looks like they might be slowly starting to drop the flows out of Hebgen over the course of the next week or two. That said, we are still going to have a bunch of water for the remainder of the month but I doubt it will get back to 3,500 at Kirby again. Visibility has improved over the weekend, and we are now sitting at 18″ above the West Fork.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019May 26, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for May 26th, 2018

Dam: 2,470 cfs

Kirby: 3,530 cfs

Varney: 5,470 cfs

The Upper Madison hit 3,500 cfs at the Kirby gauge this morning, and flows out of Hebgen are projected to stay at roughly 2,500 cfs through Tuesday for the scheduled flush from NorthWestern Energy. While we were told that this would last for three days there is still a good chance that flows will hold at this level until the water coming into Hebgen begins to drop. As of yesterday there was almost double the amount of water coming into the reservoir than what is coming out and with some heavy rain in the forecast this week it won’t be long until Hebgen is at full pool. Currently the lake is over 90% full with a lot of water from Yellowstone National Park still to come, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next two weeks. Cabin and Beaver Creeks have been spewing chocolate milk for over a week now and the mud finally made it through Quake two nights ago, dropping visibility to around 8-10 inches and brown.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019May 15, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for May 14th, 2018

Dam: 1,390 cfs

Kirby: 1,850 cfs

Varney: 2,590 cfs

Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has seen a drop in flows over the last week, as North Western energy looks to fill Hebgen Lake in order that have enough water for the big flush taking place around June 1st. In case you haven’t heard, they will be flushing the river around the first of the month and you can expect approximately 3,200 cfs pouring out of Hebgen for at least three days. In the meantime, we are still sitting at roughly 14″ of green visibility above the West Fork of the Madison and the Upper 10 miles have been fishing well with both nymphs and streamers. If you are looking to float the river we would suggest doing a shorter one right now and pulling over to work obvious holding areas rather than fishing it on the roll, as the visibility above Windy Point down to Ennis is around 8-10 inches.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019April 30, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for April 30th, 2018

Dam: 1,910 cfs

Kirby: 2,120 cfs

Varney: 2,460 cfs

Madison River fishing report. We are in the early stages of runoff on the Upper Madison, and as water levels continue to rise with each passing week you can rest assured that we are in store for a big water year. Most of the creeks are still running clear below Quake with the exception of Indian and the West Fork, but all it takes is one good rain storm and we will start to see the mud coming in full force. The section between Quake and Lyon’s Bridge is still holding at 3.5′-4′ of viz with a slight green tinge, but both Cabin and Beaver Creeks were throwing in a decent amount of chocolate milk over the weekend so we should start to see visibility decrease later this week. The West Fork is also putting in a small brown stripe that is pretty evenly mixed by Windy Point. Once you get below Windy you can expect roughly 2.5′-3′ of visibility for the time being, but my guess is that it will start to get closer to 1.5′-2” by the end of the week.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019April 11, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for April 11th, 2018

Dam: 1,370 cfs

Kirby: 1,410 cfs

Varney: 1,600 cfs

Madison River fishing report. It’s been a while since we had a normal Spring in the Madison Valley, as random weeks of rain and highs in the sixties have been far too common for March and early April in years past. We had been fishing ice out at Quake and Hebgen for almost two weeks at this time last year, but colder temps and high elevation snow have kept the melt at a very slow pace…which is a good thing by the way. As of today, the snow pack in the Madison Range is sitting pretty with a moisture content of 123%, with even higher amounts in the surrounding watersheds, so it should be a great water year throughout the Western part of the state.

Madison River Fishing Report

October 23, 2019March 9, 2018

Madison River Fishing Report for March 9th, 2018

Dam: 1,100 cfs

Kirby: 1,160 cfs

Varney: 1,240 cfs

Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has been fishing really well lately, and it appears that the deep freeze of February is finally over. It’s still pretty chilly in the mornings up river, but we are starting to see more highs in the 30’s and low 40’s and it won’t be long until more Spring-like temperatures start to become the norm. Most of the boat ramps between Raynolds and Palisades are still drifted in with the exception of Windy Point, but you can get in and out from Windy down to Valley Garden if you feel like knocking off the boat cover and getting your oars wet. Lyon’s Bridge is also a possibility, but you’ll have to slide your boat down from the parking lot. Just make sure to scout your takeouts before putting in, and you might want to bring a tow strap and a shovel just to be on the safe side as large snow drifts can happen quickly overnight.