Activities:
Boating Fishing Camping Picnicking Hunting Hiking Wildlife Viewing
Campground:
Primitive Campsite
Sanitation & Water:
Drinking Water, Toilet
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The Madison River is arguably one of the best trout fishing rivers in all of southwest Montana, if not the entire world! It’s certainly the most talked over, written up and frequented ... morein the state of Montana – which is considered by some the capital of fly fishing. Anglers will find plenty of great access sites to wade or float along the Madison’s banks and reservoirs (including Hebgen Lake and Ennis Lake). Rainbows, browns, cutthroats, and more abound in this majestic fishing stream.
The Madison begins its course almost twenty miles into Yellowstone National Park. Within the Park, fishing rules apply: no live bait and catch and release only. Once outside the Park the river meanders past working ranches, stately conifer forests and cottonwood lined banks, interrupted by riffles and quiet runs that contain large rainbow and trophy brown trout. Flowing alongside Yellowstone’s West entrance road, the river enters Hebgen Lake, created by Hebgen dam, until it reaches Quake Lake, a bit downstream from the dam. At this point the river is commonly called either the Upper Madison or the Lower Madison, although in fact, they are one and the same.
Upper Madison – Quake Lake to Ennis Lake
Directly below Quake Lake the river roars into 5 long miles of Class V whitewater with steep gradients and large boulders along the way. As the rapids decline, the magic begins. For the next 53 miles, often referred to as the 50 Mile Riffle, the cold river runs north and the fish jump high. Annual runs of spawning trout make their way from Hebgen Lake, rainbows in the spring and browns in the fall. Known the world over for its “hard fighting” trout, it’s not unusual to pull a 25” brown from these upper waters. In deference to the purists and fly-fishing enthusiasts, it’s wading only from Quake Lake to Lyons Bridge. Boats may be used to access the river, but if you’re going to fish, your feet must be on the riverbed. Fortunately, the Hebgen Dam releases water throughout the year, leveling its flows and relieving it of spring runoff issues and summer shrinkage.
Lower Madison – Ennis Lakes to Three Forks
A short section of the river between Ennis Dam and the power station maintains relatively low water levels and provides wonderful opportunities for wading. Past the power station the river regains its muscle and for 7 miles winds through Bear Trap Canyon. Hiking trails offer the only entry, great for those that like to walk and seek the solitude of a designated wilderness area. Floating is permitted but requires a lengthy shuttle and the ability to work through Class III-IV whitewater. Once out of the canyon the river flows in shallow riffles until it reaches Three Forks and joins the Missouri. From Warm Springs to Greycliff, the river is easily accessible for drifters and wading.
On the Water Fishing Reports
Ended Here Reports
Water is warming up but fishing is staying on track Eder still seeing good hatches all the way down from quake lake fishing is spotty 5 fish up on one bank then nothing for an hour. ... moreSalmonflies are all the way up near quake And have taken the crowds with them. Small dries in the morning have been producing some good fish and a lot of twinks. Small nymphs the same in the afternoon but with more whites. Seems like a good white population this year. Not much on the streamers yet Fish are still looking for bugs. Hoot owl restrictions in place on lower rivers. Fish on.
Run off is over. It’s game on for the Upper Madison. Recent rains created a slight bump in water levels but they are on their way down again. We fished mostly streamers with a little ... moregreen bead on the end. Most of the action was on the big streamer. We didn't catch high numbers but quality was way up there. A 20-inch brown and a handful of rainbows around 18”. Some caddis showed up later in the day but I think we were gone before the dry show started. Had some friends out last night said they had pretty good caddis fishing fight before dark. Waiting patiently for Salmon flies. Its our turn next. It’s about over on the Big Hole which means were close here. Tight lines. Eric Shores
Fishing on the Madison River picked up last week as the water levels continued to fall. Water clarity has been good. The water coming out of Quake lake is a nice steelhead green. We ... morehave been seeing some big chocolate caddis, but not a whole lot has been happening on the surface. Two days ago we fished Ruby to Varney. Fishing was spotty but the fish quality was way up there. We got a 23” rainbow, four browns 18" to 20", and a smattering of 12" to 14". Admittedly we did go almost 3 hours without a strike.
That was a little hard to take, but when they finally started we had a really good two hours. Recent wave of hot weather has the immediate future in question. As a group we are undecided whether this 80-degree weather is going to blow the whole system out again? As of now water levels are starting to creep up again. Fished yesterday from Lyons bridge to Ruby Creek. The west fork has started showing color again so half the river was green half was greenish brown. Actually caught more fish in the dark side than the clear side, but in general fishing was not great. Good size but low numbers. We only got seven fish for a 9-mile float, one really nice 20 inch Brown and we went through every fly in the book. Madison river fish don't like rising water levels. I think we have one more bump which should last about a week then we should be in for a steady decline and some really good fishing Tight lines e
Fishing was good!! We put in at Lyons (only car there!) about 9:30 and floated to the Ruby Creek boat ramp (appr. 12 miles). I whacked a few with a girdle bug and prince under the ... morebobber so I ensured I didn't go scoreless then took the sticks and let Art chuck his 6 inch monster streamers. We saw a little movement here and there on the streamer but not many actual "eats." Then, it warmed up that 1 extra degree that made them put there mouth on it. We moved fish consistently all day after the first hour. Arts best streamer was a lighter green, white flash, heavy headed streamer fished on an ARC medium sink tip line, WITH 6.5 ft. of 1x to his fly. I fished a gold, crystal flash, cone head, bugger/streamer concoction of Arts and never took it off. Since it was a single hook streamer I did trail a bead head 16-18 inches behind the streamer and caught fish on that, also. I never changed the bugger but I did change the bead below a few times. Good 'ol sz.16, bead headed Pheasant tail was my best trailer nymph. I fished a 7 ft leader to 2x with two bb split shot (I should have just used a 3/0). Even though we had much different setups we caught fish in the same places with the same techniques. We would give it an initial mend to sink it, bring the line tight, then short strips/tip twitches. They didn't seem to want to chase too far or too fast. A good portion of our fish were caught in the slow to medium slow back eddy/slicks along the bank. We did move quite a few fish in the "pillow", just upstream of a rock and a few twitching streamers next to the rock. Some chases and short bites in the slicks below the rocks but no real consistent action there. I know that nymphing has been good in the middle but they had no love for the streamer out there.
Tight lines,
Charles P.
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