Madison River Fishing Report

This Madison River fishing report is valid from October 5 through October 15. Note that the Madison inside YNP is not covered here, but in our Yellowstone Park Fishing Report.

Lower Madison Report

Turning on big time, though the weeds are annoying. Fish crayfish with a Perdigon or BWO nymph unless you see a BWO hatch. You can also strip midsize flashy streamers. The fishing will be best on cloudy days, since flows are very low.

• Hatches: A few midges, more BWO. The BWO will be best on cloudy afternoons.
• Dry Flies: Maybe small hoppers, otherwise #16-18 attractor dries and #18 BWO imitations.
• Nymphs & Wets: Olive Perdigons, Frenchies, Little Green Machines, etc. Trail these behind a crayfish or, if it has been rainy, a slender San Juan Worm.
• Streamers: Sparkle Minnows, Kreelex, Spark Plug, flashy Woolly Buggers.

Lower Madison River – Streamflow Data

Fishing is generally best here when flows are on a natural rise, though most of the time they jump around due to discharge from Ennis Dam. Flows over about 4000cfs make for very difficult fishing, as do very low flows.

The Lower Madison almost always gets too warm to fish from late June or early July through Labor Day. Keep a close eye on the temperature graph. Anytime flows exceed 73F, expect closures. You should stay away, anyway. Full closures are implemented when water temps fail to drop below 70 at night. This is most common in early August, when this is an awful place to fish anyway due to aquatic weeds and vast swarms of drunks in inner tubes.

Upper Madison Report

Turning on as pressure drops. Look for BWO hatches or fish streamers.

This area is honestly beyond our regular operations area, so we don’t get up there very often and don’t have any recent info. Check with shops in Ennis, instead.

Madison River Fishing Report – Relevant Links

• Ennis Weather

Note: We update our general fishing report far more often than our fishery-specific reports like this one, especially between November and April.