Madison River Fishing Report: Spring Runoff
Check out the Madison River section of this site for up to date Madison River Fishing Reports. I am aiming to keep this updated whenever there are significant changes in the fishing or river conditions and there should be updates almost daily. There are also some really good resources there like streamflow graphs and links to NOAA weather, the Snotel snowpack map and Hebgan lake level information.
We are finally seeing those really warm days that kick off our spring runoff on the Madison River. The upper Madison is flowing really fast (creeping up on 4000 cubic feet per second) and the Lower Madison river is already over 4000 CFS. The clarity on the upper river is pretty blown but there is still some good fishing to be had above the West Fork of the Madison if you know the soft spots on the banks that the fish get pushed into at these flows. They can't see the fly as well but every fish in the river is pushed into smaller pockets of soft water near the banks. They just can't swim against the fast water in the middle of the river. If you know those spots, you can have some good action. The water clarity on the Lower Madison River is holding out pretty well and float fishing should continue to be good down there for awhile. The fish are still in the softer water but there is much more of that on the Lower Madison than the Upper Madison. I am predicting that the runoff will peak by the end of this week as we are facing a lot of warm days and Thursday is looking to be 87 degrees in Ennis. Worms are always my favorite pattens under these conditions and a lot of times it seems like you cant find one that is too big. The big fish are pushed into soft water right now and with decreased clarity they are much easier to fool. The warm weather also makes for some nice days on the water. Conditions are far from perfect but the fish are still catchable if you fish the right water.
We are finally seeing those really warm days that kick off our spring runoff on the Madison River. The upper Madison is flowing really fast (creeping up on 4000 cubic feet per second) and the Lower Madison river is already over 4000 CFS. The clarity on the upper river is pretty blown but there is still some good fishing to be had above the West Fork of the Madison if you know the soft spots on the banks that the fish get pushed into at these flows. They can't see the fly as well but every fish in the river is pushed into smaller pockets of soft water near the banks. They just can't swim against the fast water in the middle of the river. If you know those spots, you can have some good action. The water clarity on the Lower Madison River is holding out pretty well and float fishing should continue to be good down there for awhile. The fish are still in the softer water but there is much more of that on the Lower Madison than the Upper Madison. I am predicting that the runoff will peak by the end of this week as we are facing a lot of warm days and Thursday is looking to be 87 degrees in Ennis. Worms are always my favorite pattens under these conditions and a lot of times it seems like you cant find one that is too big. The big fish are pushed into soft water right now and with decreased clarity they are much easier to fool. The warm weather also makes for some nice days on the water. Conditions are far from perfect but the fish are still catchable if you fish the right water.
The Power Worm. This little guys is one of the best San Juan worm variations out there.
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