Madison River Fly Fishing
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Fishing //
The Madison River flows from southwest Montana to its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin Rivers near Three Forks, Montana. Throughout its journey, it is home to some of the best fishing for rainbow, brown and the occasional westslope cutthroat trout.
In mid-May, snow runoff begins to fill the Madison with higher water and lots of aquatic food. Big browns and rainbows quickly pick-up on this annual phenomenon and become more active and aggressive at larger streamer flies like buggers and sculpin patterns. This also stimulates the natural cycles for caddis, mayfly and stonefly species, most notably the "Salmon fly" hatch which occurs from late-May through early July. This "hatch" generally moves 3-4 miles a day upstream starting around Greycliffe access on the lower river and finishing up in Yellowstone Park just around Independence Day.
When the Madison clears and drops to its summer levels by early July, hatches of PMDs, Caddis and Golden Stones (aka Yellow Sallies) are common. Late summer days are great for terrestrials such as hoppers, flying ants and beetles, with terrific action in late evening hours on egg-laying caddis. The best time for non-stop dry fly fishing is from 8:30-11pm (yes, well after darkness has fallen).
As September rolls around, fish continue to respond to hoppers and terrestrials by day, then begin watching out for sculpin and baitfish patterns again during evening hours. Cooling water temperatures signal an end to the easy food periods of mid summer, and often bring bigger fish out to make their final push for putting on weight before the frigid periods of winter.
Though you can spin fish and use bait on some sections, fly fishing the Madison River is the local's preference. We've seen first hand how easy it could be to fill a cooler with 14-20" brown trout by using nothing but night crawlers in a deep hole. There's no fun to this, and it only depletes this valuable resource we are all trying to conserve. Madison River fly fishing requires patience, stealth, fortitude and an open mind to try new techniques when normal ones aren't working. Don't worry, the trout are always there. By experimenting with a slightly different drift, leader and sinker tactic, or twitch added to your favorite streamer, you'll eventually come away victorious.
The best people to seek advice from for fly fishing the Madison River are the fly shops found in the communities of Ennis, Bozeman, West Yellowstone, Three Forks and Manhattan, Montana.
Other Online Resources
The Madison joins the Gallatin & Jefferson Rivers to form this great fishery.
Snake River fly fishing outfitters and trip guides.
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