Lately on days off we have been exploring some new areas that I have always wanted to try. This spot paid off big time. Possibly my favorite thing about living in Montana is that no matter how much I fish there is always somewhere new to try.
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Here in southwest Montana there is a lot of talk about dirty water, runoff and what the summer holds in terms of water conditions. The water conditions on the Madison river are looking pretty good in both the long and short term. Water levels and clarity are good at the moment and it looks like they are not likely to get to unfishable levels this year. Likewise, despite the relatively low and clear water conditions, there is plenty of water in Hebgan lake.
As of now fly fishing on the Madison river is pretty good. The upper sections of the river are now open and most anglers are cleaning up on all those dumb trout that are accessible now that the winter closure has lifted. They are even lucky enough to be fishing in abnormally clear water conditions. The water has plenty of clarity to catch fish but enough color to keep them from being too picky about the fly, leader or drift. However, it also looks like we are in the midst of this years runoff on the Madison river and many of the other rivers in our area. The Yellowstone and Gallatin rivers are plenty dirty and the flow on the upper Madison river has spiked despite no increased release from the dam. We have a lot of rain in the past week, which is contibuting to increased flows but the better part of our snow is gone at this point. The map below shows the percentage of yearly snowpack for various drainages in western Montana. There is not a lot of snow up there. The Madison river drainage as a whole is down to 43% of average snowpack. Most of the Snow is gone and the river is still plenty fishable. It looks like we may have little to worry about interns of runoff and really dirty water for this year. With a snowpack well below the normal average for this time of year what can we expect water conditions to be like in mid to late summer? The mid to late summer water levels on the Madison river depend a lot more on what comes out of Hebgan dam than on the current level of snowpack. On a normal year the majority of a winter's snow flushes through the river during the yearly spring runoff. After runoff a much higher portion of the water in the Madison river comes from Hebgan lake. The the link below will take you to a frequently updated site where you can track the levels of Hebgan lake: http://www.usbr.gov/gp-bin/arcweb_hebr.pl As now Hebgan lake levels look good: Daily Reservoir Data as of 05/18/2015 Pool Elevation is 6533.1 Feet Pool Elevation to Fill 1.8 Feet Reservoir Storage is 362883. Acre-Feet Reservoir Storage to Fill 23297.7 Acre-Feet Reservoir Inflow is 638.5 CFS Reservoir Outflow is 575.0 CFS Reservoir is 94.0 % Full* Reservoir Flood Control Pool is filled 0.0 % Madison River Flow is 575.0 CFS The lake is 94% full and there is currently more water coming in than going out. For now it looks like we are going to end up with a mild runoff and plenty of water in the lake to sustain us through the summer. Today is opening day on the upper Madison river south of Ennis, Montana. The sections of river from Quake Lake to McAtee Bridge and from Ennis Bridge to Ennis Lake are now open to fishing. These sections close every spring to protect areas with spawning rainbow trout. Now that they are open we have twice as much water to fish and plenty of dumb fish. This is a great time of year to be out on the Madison river fly fishing. The conditions for opening weekend this year are a little different than normal. Most years opening day falls during our spring runoff. The river is still fishable and normally fishes well but to find clear enough water we are often confined to the upper sections near Three Dollar Bridge and Reynolds Pass. This year is a bit different. Low snow pack in the Madison river drainage has made for a pretty minimal runoff and the entire river is more than clear enough to fish. In fact it is even clear enough to fish it with dry flies on the right afternoon when the fish are looking up. The forecast for opening weekend is cool and rainy so that should keep the water clear and at least some of the fair weather anglers at home. We fished near Three Dollar Bridge last year on Sunday during opening weekend. On that day the water had less than two feet of visibility and the weather was cloudy, cold and rainy. It turned out to be one of the better days of fishing that I saw all year on the upper Madison and I don't recall seeing many if any other boats. There should be some pretty fun fishing to be had over the next week or so. Get out and make those fish smart again because if you don't somebody else will. A few years ago on the upper Madison river south of Ennis, Montana a guide and angler spotted a massive brown trout drifting dead down the river. Naturally they pulled it out and took photos with it as if they had caught it on a fly pole. I had heard about the fish and seen the photo above but only recently came across this article with all the details on the beast. How big was it? According to the article: "After inspection by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks it was determined that the fish’s living dimensions were 28-inch girth and 38-inch length and that it weighed between 34 and 36 pounds!" http://www.montanaoutdoor.com/2013/08/megasaurus-dino-brown-trout-found-on-shore-of-madison-river/ It is pretty wild to know that our Madison river is capable of producing such a giant brown trout. When you fish a river that flows between two lakes you never know what may have moved in from the depths. |
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April 2019
AuthorCaptain Garrett Blackburn - Outfitter and guide on the rivers of southwest Montana. Categories
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