Hebgen Dam 1140 cfs Old Kirby Place 1890 cfs Varney Bridge 3190 cfs Lower Madison 3120 cfs Runoff…It’s on again. At least for a time. There is still more than average amount snow in the Madison drainage for this time of year. With daytime highs reaching into the high 70s and low 80s the Madison… Continue reading On Again, Off Again, On Again…Madison River Report 6/13
Hebgen Dam 1220cfs Old Kirby Place 1490cfs Varney Bridge 1920cfs Lower Madison 2080cfs It has been a cold week here in South West Montana. Steady 15-20mph winds out of the North and cold temperatures have really slowed the progression of run off over the past 7-10 days. Water levels have been dropping and the river… Continue reading Run Off on Hold….For now, Madison River Fishing Report 5/24
Hebgen Dam 1790cfs Old Kirby Place 1890cfs Varney Bridge 2150cfs Lower Madison 2110cfs May 1st is officially in the books and although Old Man Winter can not decide if he is done with us yet, the spring fishing has been fair to great most days and his grip on us is slowing loosening. True to… Continue reading Madison River Fishing Report 5/1
Hebgen Dam 1560 cfs Old Kirby Place 1610 cfs Varney Bridge 1810 cfs Lower Madison 2290 cfs The first major thing of note is that the flows on the Madison River have come up a fair amount in the last week and a half. This is not an early push of runoff water. This is… Continue reading Madison River Fishing Report 4/15/19
Hebgen Dam 1120cfs Kirby Place 1160cfs Varney Bridge 1260cfs Lower Madison 1700cfs Good size trout coming up to eat big dries on the Madison River in the last days of March? While not unheard of, is a bit of an April fools joke. We tried and tried and tried and only got a couple of… Continue reading Madison River Fishing Report for April 1st, Hitting Dries!
Hebgen Dam 1080 cfs Old Kirby Place 1090 cfs Varney Bridge 1180 cfs Lower Madison 1730 cfs It feels good to be back in the saddle again, the proverbial saddle that is. . It is a bit more of a tractor seat but that just does not have the same ring to it. Being in… Continue reading My first Madison River trips in the books….
Hebgen Dam 921cfs Old Kirby Place 1470cfs Varney Bridge 956cfs Lower Madison 1470cfs Winter is here now. Literally right now, as I write, he is sitting outside holding down a balmy -10 degrees Fahrenheit. That may seem cold until you find yourself in other parts of the beautiful state on Montana where temps… Continue reading Winter Fishing….on hold for now
It is still cold here in Ennis Montana and although we have had some mild temperatures and a good snow year winter is still hanging on. As I begin to put everything in order for the upcoming season I am excited about one new addition in particular. The upgraded lake boat. Ennis lake has always… Continue reading New Addition!
Hebgen Dam 910 cfs
Old Kirby Place 1180 cfs
Varney Bridge 1480 cfs
Ennis Dam 218 cfs
Lower Madison 1389 cfs
I’ve noticed some changes out there the past several days on the Madison River. Some good, that’s to say that the changes might benefit the angler. Some not so good, depending on how we look at it. These things are bound to happen when we spend so much time in a place bound to seasons. We anglers are just passengers along for the ride. Knowing this generally makes it easier to take the days that I can’t quite get my finger on the pulse. I can usually find some excuse for this occurrence and that makes it all the easier to accept that some days are just learning days.
All this doesn’t really mean that we had a bad day. This doesn’t really mean that the fishing was bad or that we didn’t catch some great fish. It just simply means that things are changing and that it is different today than it was yesterday. Might even change back.
The Madison Valley has seen all kinds of weather over the past seven days. 74 degrees sunny and warm or 42 degrees, snow and rain from a northern cold from, even a few day in between those two extremes. The Madison Valley is in its spring cycle and it will not be uncommon to see this back and forth over the coming months.
The Madison River will begin to react to this tussle over temperatures accordingly and will generally rise and fall with the fluctuations. The Madison saw its first small push of spring melt over the past several days (remember 74 degrees). This was promptly halted by cold northern air and rain and snow, It is still very much winter in the high country as far as temperatures are concerned. The flows stabilized and even feel a bit with the cold. This is likely to change with the next push of warmer weather and the Madison will likely rise again. So the cycle will go until most of the snow is out of the mountains.
With all this change comes bugs. As a fly fisherman I love bugs. The logic goes something like this. Trout eat bugs, therefore I love bugs. We are starting to see BWO’s or Baetis. The hatches of this beloved little mayfly happen all spring and are important as droppers fishing nymphs thru spring. The real fun show happens on the not so pretty days, the rainy days, the snow lightly falling straight down days, sometimes referred to as the nasty days. That’s code for the chance at great spring dry fly fishing. Towards the end of the April and the first of May we will start to see the first Caddis on the Madison as well. The Mothers Day Caddis also known as Brachycentrus occidentals will start to fill the air on the warmer days. Something I love about this time year is that we get to fish Caddis on the nice days and BWO’s on the “nasty days”. If we are lucky we will see March Browns in the mix as well. What a glorious time to be in Southwest Montana.
Hebgen Dam 900cfs Old Kirby Place 970cfs Varney Bridge 1060cfs Lower Madison 1270cfs For the first time in many, many moons I got skunked fly fishing today. Now I’m not the greatest angler in the world but I rarely get blanked on my home waters around Ennis, Montana. This was no half hour and didn’t… Continue reading Skunked. Not on the Madison…