Any river as large and complex as the Madison is never going to be the same along its entire length. Some parts of the river are fishing wonderfully, and others are under siege by an army of colorful drunks. But, that is summer on the Madison. The Upper is in great shape. Lots of Salmonflies […]
Madison
Taken about 8 pm on the lower Madison on the 4th….
From the road yesterday. 3 Dollar. Bugs galore. Magnifico.
The Madison is one of my favorite rivers this time of year. All along its length, the fishing is good. Flows have been up and down somewhat this week, but are stabilizing. Clarity is good, and the big bugs are out! The Salmonflies are on the Upper. Last I heard, the hatch was concentrated around […]
As famous a fishery as the Madison River is, few fly anglers see the Madison Dam at the head of Bear Trap Canyon. We were doing a bit of scouting (raft launch and salmon flies) on the Madison yesterday afternoon – the Dry Fly Media team is about to upgrade their raft and we’ll be […]
Not much has changed from last week on the Madison. The Upper is fishing well. Salmonflies are very close, perhaps days away. Water clarity is good right now, not gin clear but enough visibility for fishing. Flows are up to 1,400 cfs. It would be better for the Salmonfly hatch if there was a little […]
The Madison is kicking ass right now. There are good hatches on the Lower, and the entire Upper is clearing up. The rain is going to have hurt things somewhat, but not enough to really make a difference. The feeder creeks and streams that were throwing a lot of mud into the Upper last week […]
The recent cool weather and rain has only improved the Madison. Most of the tribs and feeder creeks are still pumping in a lot of mud, but you can find some clear water that is fishing well. The same spots that were fishing well on the Upper last week continue to do so. Between Hebgen […]
The Upper Madison is a little more clear than last week. Flows out of Hebgen have surprisingly dropped over the past few days. A stretch of river just below the dam is closed, so heads up. The river between the dam and Cabin Creek is your best bet between the lakes, but the rest of […]
Don’t interpret the title of this post to mean that the Madison is fishing great. It isn’t. Fishing well in a few places, but not great. With the recent rain and warm weather, water clarity is dropping along the entire river. However, there are still some places where you can fish relatively clear water and […]
After that depressing Gallatin report, we could all use some good news. As opposed to most area rivers, the Madison has been fishing great! Both the Upper and Lower are seeing lots of good action. Remember that the Upper is now completely open to boat and wade fishing. There is now a lot of water to cover, […]
With runoff just around the corner on many of the area rivers, tailwaters like the Madison are going to see a lot of fishing pressure. Although, with the recent emergence of Mother’s Day Caddis on the Yellowstone and other waters, the Madison has been pleasantly uncrowded recently. Live it up while you can. The big […]
The Madison continues to be a strong fishery. Both the Upper and Lower have been producing a lot of fish lately, even with the water muddying up somewhat. We are all eagerly awaiting the opening of the stretch between Quake Lake and MacAtee Bridge on the 16th. The Upper has seen a lot of traffic […]
Yesterday was a good day. Camille and I had a chance to run out to Bear Trap Canyon in the afternoon for a few hours. It was the first time we had ever fished together, so it was a good opportunity to get to know each other better. As we walked in, we were both […]
As always it seems to, the Madison continues to fish well. The warm weather has pushed some mud and sediment into the river, but visibility is still very fishable to excellent. I have heard reports of crystal clear water around 8 Mile Bridge on the Upper. Speaking of the Upper, one of my co-workers was […]
