Madison River Fishing Report

Madison River Fishing Report for July 1st, 2020

Dam: 622 cfs

Kirby: 1,020 cfs

Varney: 1,680 cfs

The Upper Madison continues to fish well throughout its entirety, and the dry fly fishing in the wade section with caddis and PMDs has been particularly good over the last week. Despite low flows out of Hebgen, we are still sitting above 1,000 cfs above the West Fork with the lower river hovering between 1,600 and 1,800 cfs which are still great water levels for this river.  We should start to see the flows increased later this week as Hebgen Lake is getting close to full pool.

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Madison River Fishing Report for June 19th, 2020

Dam: 804 cfs

Kirby: 1,330 cfs

Varney: 2,090 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing very well lately. Flows have been dropping out of the dam each day as NW Energy is trying to get to full pool by the end of the month, but the creeks are still putting in enough water to compensate for it and keeping the banks fishy in the float section.  The river is gin clear in the upper wade section, with the West Fork still putting in a small stripe of dirty water down the left side.  Once it mixes you are looking at around 3.5-4 feet below Palisades and we should start to see it clear up by the weekend or early next week.

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Madison River Fishing Report for June 5th, 2020

Dam: 2,410 cfs

Kirby: 3,260 cfs

Varney: 4,300 cfs

Flows on the Upper Madison continue to rise and we should start to see them level off once it hits 3,500 cfs at the Kirby Gauge above the West Fork.  Floating under Sun West and Wolf Creek Bridges is still a no go, so you don’t want to put a boat in at Lyon’s Bridge until we start to see water levels get below 2,700 cfs (or lower if you are in a high sided boat/raft).  Visibility is around 8″-10″ above the West Fork and will only get worse the further you go downstream towards Ennis; however, the sub-surface fishing is still good in the upper wade stretch.

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Madison River Fishing Report for May 24th, 2020

Dam: 1,090 cfs

Kirby: 1,380 cfs

Varney: 1,820 cfs

The Upper Madison is still fishing very well this May, and we are just getting into our Spring runoff around here.  Last week we saw a steady amount of rain which brought the river up and got the creeks flowing again.  However, as is commonly the case during Memorial Day weekday, colder weather and snow in the mountains seized up the flows from the West Fork of the Madison and Cabin, Beaver, and Indian Creeks.  With the forecast calling for highs in the 70’s and 80’s in Cameron this coming week, expect to see the river on the rise once again, and with Hebgen Lake at 89% percent full, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see the flows out of the dam increased in another 7-10 days as well.

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Madison River Fishing Report for May 13th, 2020

Dam: 1,060 cfs

Kirby: 1,420 cfs

Varney: 1,790 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing well this month, and temperatures have been nice and cool in the evenings to prevent a premature, full-scale runoff for the time being.  We definitely have a little more color in the water than we are used to seeing this time of year, as we tend to get the first plug of mud through Quake between the third and fourth week in May historically speaking.  That said, the forecast is calling for highs in the sixties and a decent amount of rain starting on Sunday so we should start to see the beginning of our actual runoff here by next week.

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Madison River, Montana, Fishing Report for March 20th, 2020

Dam: 963 cfs

Kirby: 1,030 cfs

Varney: 1,160 cfs

It’s been a crazy week out there ladies and gentleman.  Lots of instability and fear going around these days but we will get through the hard times and this too shall pass. The good news is that there’s no better place to distance yourself from all the stress and anxiety of life than on a river, and you could do worse than spend an afternoon on the Upper Madison these days.  If you can’t make it here do yourself a favor and find one in your own back yard, sit on the bank and just watch the water flow…it’ll do you good.

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Madison River, Montana, Fishing Report for March 5th, 2020

Dam: 870 cfs

Kirby: 948 cfs

Varney: 1,080 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing well over the last several weeks, and it looks like we are on a little bit of a warming trend after a cold start to February.  Around this time last year we were still buried in snow and enduring sub zero temperatures, and yet the highs for this weekend are supposed to be in the 50’s.  As a result, people have already started putting their ski boots away for the year and trading them out for wading boots, as there is nothing quite like Spring Fishing after getting through another Montana Winter.

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Madison River Fishing Report for January 31st, 2020

Dam: 900 cfs

Kirby: 994 cfs

Fishing on the Upper Madison has been good this January, and temperatures have been relatively mild for the most part.  Some folks have been taking advantage of the nicer weather and floating recently, as most of the boat ramps from Windy to Town have been accessible.  That could certainly change here shortly, as the forecast is calling for a decent amount of snow starting on Sunday and throughout the following week.

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Madison River Fishing Report for November 29th, 2019

Dam: 910 cfs

Kirby: 1,040 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing well this November, and after a nice couple of weeks with relatively warm temperatures it appears that Winter has finally settled in.  It’s about that time anyway, and we were fortunate enough to have some 50 degree days in November after one of the coldest Octobers anyone has seen around here in a very long time.  That said, the upper portion of the river will be your best bet from here on out and it’s going to be a little icy down by Ennis for a bit unless we get on another warming trend.

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Madison River Fishing Report for October 27th, 2019

Dam: 974 cfs

Kirby: 1,100 cfs

Varney: 1,170 cfs

The Upper Madison has been fishing well over the last several weeks, and it looks like we have another cold front moving in for the week ahead.  We are looking at below zero to single digits lows this week and highs not projected to hit above freezing until this coming Thursday so there’s not a huge need to be out on the water until the mercury starts rising in the late morning hours.  Subsurface fishing remains solid despite the cold conditions, and we are still finding good fish rising up to midges and BWO’s on the calmer days.

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