Madison River Fishing Report

Madison River Fishing Report for May 2nd, 2022

Dam: 640 cfs

Kirby: 710 cfs

Varney: 789 cfs

The Upper Madison continues to fish well this Spring, and we have a little more water to work with since our last report.  Flows out of Hebgen were brought up to 640 cfs last week, and will probably remain there for another 4-6 weeks until the reservoir starts to hit that upper 80 to low 90 percentile.  It’ll be awhile, but we think it will get pretty close to full pool this year as spring storms continue to fill our mountains with wet snow and our valleys with some much needed rain.  Our current snowpack in the Madison range is up to 92% and we hope to continue to build on that in the weeks to come.

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Madison River Fishing Report for April 21st, 2022

Dam: 537 cfs

Kirby: 627 cfs

Varney: 692 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing well, but we are still in the midst of an extremely low water situation so be sure to use caution if you choose to float…there are rocks being hit out there that haven’t seen fiberglass in a very, very long time.  You can expect to see flows out of Hebgen Dam between 480-600 cfs for at least another month, as NorthWestern Energy tries to bring the reservoir up to full pool by the end of June.  Once daytime air temperatures start getting back in the 60 degree range we should start to see the tributaries kick in some much needed water to the areas below Quake lake, but the river as a whole will continue to be extremely shallow until that happens.   The good news is that April has been much colder than usual and a steady supply of rain and snow has started to build up relatively lack-luster snowpacks throughout the entire state.  We are currently sitting at a moisture content of 82% in the Madison Range, but you can count on that number to increase a good bit after the winter storm comes through tomorrow through Saturday morning — The forecast is calling for 1-2 feet in the mountains, and we welcome every inch of that.

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Madison River Fishing Report for March 23rd, 2022

Dam: 565 cfs

Kirby: 643 cfs

Varney: 673 cfs

And….we’re back.  We took a little hiatus from the Upper Madison this Winter in order to give the fish a break from the Hebgen Dam catastrophe that happened last Fall, but we have been hitting the river consistently over the last several weeks and fishing has been very good.  It’s going to be a little boney with regard to river flows this Spring, as our snowpack in the Madison range is currently sitting at 80% and Hebgen is only 68% full.  Our guess is that NW Energy will hold flows out of Hebgen Dam to around 550-650 cfs until runoff begins in mid to late May.  Until then all we can do is cross our fingers for a lot more moisture in the forecast in order to make up for another mild winter.

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Madison River Fishing Report for September 4th, 2021

Hebgen Dam: 854 cfs

Kirby: 953 cfs

Varney: 983 cfs

It’s starting to feel a lot more like early Fall than late Summer around SW Montana. The leaves are starting to change, nighttime lows have been dipping into the 30’s, and people are starting to head up into the mountains with archery season kicking off this morning.  The sky is still a little smokey around here, but not nearly as bad as what we saw in July and early August, and fishing has been pretty day to day on the old Upper Madison over the last few weeks.

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Madison River Fishing Report for July 30th, 2021

Dam: 1,350 cfs

Kirby: 1,500 cfs

Varney: 1,520 cfs

The Upper Madison remains on Hoot Owl restrictions until further notice.  This means that angling is permitted from the headwaters in Yellowstone National Park to the mouth of the Missouri between the hours of midnight and 2:00 p.m..  At 2:00 p.m. you gotta reel it up and head for the ramp, and we anticipate this to continue on until September.  The good news is that water temps and river flows are still about average for late July and we are finally getting a break from the sweltering heat.

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Madison River Fishing Report for July 19th, 2021

Dam: 1,150 cfs

Kirby: 1,320 cfs

Varney: 1,350 cfs

*** 7/21/21 Update***

The Entire Madison River is on Hoot Owl Restrictions as of July 21st until further notice.  Anglers may fish between the hours of midnight and 2:00 p.m. but no fishing is permitted between the hours of 2 – 11:59 p.m. 

It’s been a hot one out there and the smoke isn’t helping either, but we are still getting some good fishing in during the morning and early afternoon hours.  The Goose Fire has grown to over 6,000 acres since our last fishing report and the smoke has been thick throughout the entire valley most days.  The good news is that the forecast is calling for a chance or rain from Monday afternoon through Thursday night, so keep your fingers crossed for some colossal downpours and hopefully the fire management team can get this thing under control sooner than later. 

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Madison River Fishing Report for July 10th, 2021

Dam: 1,160 cfs

Kirby: 1,420 cfs

Varney: 1,560 cfs

Despite the warmer temperatures, smokey skies, and below average flows, the Upper Madison continues to hold its own and the fishing is still pretty damn good out there.  As is per usual during the Salmonfly hangover in mid July, we are seeing a lot more smaller fish come to the dry in addition to some very nice ones, but they are still looking up for a variety of caddis, PMDs, Sallies, and Eperous.

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Madison River Fishing Report for June 24th, 2021

Dam: 924 cfs

Kirby: 1,250 cfs

Varney: 1,400 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing very well over the last week, and dry flies are finally on the menu. In all but the upper most reaches you can expect to see a large variety of caddis, PMDs, yellow sallies, a few green drakes, golden stones, and salmon flies and fish have been looking up consistently throughout the day.  The river is running at below average flows for this time of year, but there is plenty of water to keep the banks full for the time being.  River traffic has been pretty busy, especially in the sections where the big bugs are present, but you can always find some solitude by seeking out different water or fishing early or late.

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Madison River Fishing Report for May 29th, 2021

Dam: 460 cfs

Kirby: 886 cfs

Varney: 1,360 cfs

It’s been a crazy month here in southwest Montana, with seventy degree blue bird days, cold rain and snow, and everything in between.  The good news is that our last storm brought our snowpack levels up over twenty percent and we are now sitting at roughly 70% in the Madison Range.  Flows out of Hebgen are still crazy low for this time of year and will continue to stay that way until the reservoir gets closer to full pool.  Obviously this is less than ideal for spawning fish between the lakes, so please take that into consideration if you are in the neighborhood.

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Madison River Fishing Report for May 5th, 2021

Dam: 655 cfs

Kirby: 886 cfs

Varney: 983 cfs

Despite the low flows out of Hebgen, the Upper Madison has continued to fish well over the last several weeks and we have been catching good numbers of fish throughout the entire stretch.  If you are floating, be careful on the flats between Storey and Varney as well as below 8 Mile as there are plenty of spots out there that will take a good chunk out of your chines if you aren’t paying close attention.  Flows were dropped again yesterday to just over 650 cfs out of the dam and we are unlikely to see an increase until we start to get Hebgen back into the 90 percentiles of full pool  — in other words…it’s going to be awhile.

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