The Madison River produced great fishing for fly anglers this past season.  If you ask most of The Madison River Guides in Ennis, Montana what they thought of the fishing, you would probably hear that it was the best dry fly/hopper seasons in years.  The fish seemed to be looking up exceptionally well this season.  On top of that, we saw more grasshoppers along The Madison River than I have seen in 10 years.  This was especially welcome after years of apparently declining grass hopper densities along the banks of the Madison River.

In 2018, we finally saw the completion of the Hebgen Dam repair project that was underway since the dam's failure on August 30th, 2008.  On that day, one of the four hydraulic gates on the dam failed sending nearly four times the normal outflow down the Madison River.  The flow was restrained after roughly a month of high water but the dam was still damaged.  During much of the subsequent repair period, the Madison River outflow from Hebgen dam came from the top of the lake over the spillway rather than middle of the lake.  The result was higher than average water temperatures on the Madison River and the necessity for spiking flows out of the dam to cool the river during hot summer months.  

While the river produced higher numbers of trout than ever, most Madison River fly fishing guides noted a decline in the quality of our dry fly fishing.  The warmer water and less consistent summer flows seemed to have changed the aquatic insect hatches and make the fish more interested in feeding subsurface.  Indeed, in 2018 when the Madison River finally received the cooler mid release water from below Hebgen Dam, the fish seemed to respond by rising to a dry fly.  Flows were more stable, the water cooler, the grass hoppers more prolific and  the combination produced one of the best dry fly seasons I have seen on the Madison.  The best part is that now that the dam is repaired, we can probably expect more great summer dry fly fishing this season!

We are still seeing some great fishing on the upper Madison river.  The stonefly hatch has come and gone and most of the crowds seem to have gone with it.   The weather on the Madison river has been really hot so early starts have been the norm lately.  The fishing holds up well until around 2 in the afternoon when the air temps start to get into the high 80s.  We are looking at a streak of cooler weather and that should really improve the late afternoon bite.  Hopper fishing is just starting.  Our summertime nocturnal stonefly hatch has been going on for awhile now so the dry fly fishing has been really good some days. 

We are looking forward to some great mid summer fishing with above average water conditions.  Hopefully we will have a great hopper season!

Spring fishing is underway on the Madison River.  The ice pack cleared some time ago and we are once again able to float and fish the Madison. We are already doing guided trips and the spring weather has been cool but relatively nice.  The river is fishing really well, which is to be expected during this time of year.  Standard tactics like slow nymphing and streamer fishing are effective and it would not surprise me a bit to see some Blue Winged Olive activity on the surface in the afternoons.  Having the entire river from Reynolds Pass to Ennis lake open to fishing is really nice this time of year.  It spreads anglers out and gives us some really awesome water to fish that we never had access to in the spring.  There are a few spawning fish out there but the rainbow spawn seems a little later this year.  

Our snowpack for the year is still building the high country but it looks like we are in really good shape.  All the major drainages in our area are at or above average snowpack levels.  That means good summer water conditions on all the rivers, fewer closures from warm water in July and August and anglers spread out over a lot of streams rather than piled into the Madison River.  On a low water year like the last several years, the Madison often becomes one of the only fisheries that has really good fishing in Southwest Montana.  That is the result of cooler water coming from Hebgan dam and the fast oxygenated nature of the river.  I always like a good water year because we have a lot more rivers that are fishing well to choose from and our home water on the Madison river is not nearly as crowded.

​Are we going to have a really bad runoff this year?  That could go either way and really just depends on the weather.  It could start slow with some warmer days and a few cooler ones in between resulting in mildly dirty and fishable conditions through the better part of the runoff.  However, if temperatures warm into the 80s for an extended period of time (usually in late May or early June), the River will get really high and dirty and the runoff will be shorter but much more extreme.

Salmon flies are long gone but the upper Madison river south of Ennis Montana is still fishing really well.  We have even had some cooler days and much cooler nights to keep the water from getting to hot for trout comfort.  Just a few days ago we had a fresh layer of snow in the mountains. The weather has been cool enough that later morning starts have produced better fishing than our typical early July fishing days.  The water is plenty cool and there are still lots of bugs around.  PMDs, caddis and some stone flies are all still abundant and the trout are still eating really well.  Numbers are good, dry fly fishing has been good on the cloudy days and there are plenty of big fish coming to the net.  

People have been asking about river closures.  The hot weather in late June and early July produced "Hoot Owl" (2pm-midnight) closures on some sections of our local rivers like the lower Ruby, the lower Gallatin, the Jefferson and sections of the Big Hole river.  The Lower Madison river was among the restricted rivers.  However, this section of the Madison river is below Ennis Lake and is not part of our normal summer program due to its warmer water temperatures.  The upper Madison river south of Ennis is what most people are fishing and floating during the summer.  This upper section of the Madison above Ennis lake should not see any closures as it is fed by cooler water from Hebgan lake.  Cool water temperatures have kept it fishing really well since mid June.  Conditions look good and we should have plenty more good fishing to come!

Our 2016 prices are up in the book a trip section of the site...They have not changed!  Although winter is just beginning to settle in on the Madison river, we are already preparing for the 2016 fishing season.  Dates are booking up fast this year so now is the time to plan a trip. The prices for our Madison River float trips have not changed but we are expecting some pretty significant changes for the fishery this year.  Perhaps the biggest news coming in 2016 is that the upper Madison River will now be open YEAR ROUND! 

Earlier this year the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and parks proposed and took public comment on several changes to the regulations governing the use of the Madison River.  The most significant of the approved changes will be that the Madison River will now be open to fishing from Hebgan Lake to Ennis Lake year round.  A public meeting to discuss the Madison river rule changes with FWP biologists was held in Ennis.  The meeting was an interesting one with a strong emotional reaction heard from the public.  A portion of the proposal aimed to simplify the rules by making the entire river open to killing one trout per day.  The strongest opinion seemed to be against this change despite urging from biologist that opening 1/3 of the Madison River to taking 1 fish per day and reducing 2/3 of the river to the same limit from the current 5 fish limit would reduce the overall numbers taken.  Further, it seemed that nobody had read the portion of the proposal that would make the Madison River from Hebgan dam to Ennis Lake artificial only and outlaw bait fishing.  Judging from the public response to the proposal as a whole, it seemed as though the entire thing might be thrown out.  

The biologist noted that whether approved or not there would likely be little impact to the fishery in terms of strength and population.  Rather the intention was to simplify complicated regulations and create more public access by opening more of the river year round.  I for one am in favor of more public access to our fisheries and am excited to be able to fish and guide on the upper sections of the Madison River during April and May this year.  These are some of the best months to fish the Madison with relativly few other anglers around.  Opening weekend may not be as silly as it used to be but this should be a really fun spring to get out on the upper Madison River.