Madison River Fishing Report

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Madison River Fishing Report for January 26th, 2018

Dam: 996 cfs

Kirby: 1,090 cfs

Madison River fishing report.  The Upper Madison continues to fish well this month, and it looks like we are in store for a little more snow this weekend.  Afternoon temperatures have been fairly mild, with highs in the mid 20’s to high 30’s being the norm, and the wind hasn’t been too bad in the upper stretches between the slide area and Lyon’s Bridge.  

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Madison River Fishing Report for January 9th, 2018

Dam: 996 cfs

Kirby: 1,080 cfs

Madison River fishing report.  We’ve had a bit of a warm spell recently, which has given way to far more pleasant temperatures to fish in than the single digits days we experienced in December.  As is usually the case in January, traffic has been slim to none on the weekdays and you’ll find a few other anglers on the river during the weekends, but it’s been a relative ghost town in the wade section for the most part. Our current snow pack is looking good so far, with a snow water equivalent of 106% in the Madison Range and more  heading our way through Friday evening.  Hopefully we keep getting some much needed snow in the mountains this month in order to keep our rivers and creeks running cold throughout the Summer.

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Madison River Fishing Report for December 13th, 2017

Dam: 1,020 cfs

Kirby: 1,060 cfs

Madison River fishing report.  Fishing on the Upper Madison has been good this December, and temperatures have been relatively mild for this time of year.  That said, there hasn’t been a huge need to get on the water super early, as nighttime temps continue to hover between the single digits and the high teens.  It’s been a little warmer down towards Ennis, but the river has started to get a little slushy down there so you may want to get an update around town if you are thinking of heading anywhere below Varney Bridge. 

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Madison River Fishing Report for November 17th, 2017

Dam: 942 cfs

Kirby: 1,030 cfs

Madison River fishing report. The Upper Madison has been fishing well this November, particularly in the wade section between Quake and Lyon’s Bridge.  The wind situation continues to be biggest issue over the past two months, and none of us can remember a Fall where we’ve seen as many days with gusts in the 30-40 mph range.  That being said, you may want to check the forecast before putting a boat in around here and you can always find a little more protection in the wade section or in the canyon between the lakes.

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