Madison River Fishing Report
The Tackle Shop Fly Shop and Fishing Guides in Ennis, Montana
Fishing Report for the Madison River in Montana 7-30-2016
Here we are the end of July and the first of August on the Madison and all is right. Most of the other rivers in our area are suffering from warm flows and hoot owl restrictions and the Madison keeps chugging right along. Want to fish dry's yup that will work, streamer junkie chuck away, want to lob a bobber that will keep you bent as well. The dam being "fixed" and allowing water to come from the bottom of the lake has made a difference and is keeping the Madison in play while others a...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River in Montana 7-24-2016
Even with the heat we have been seeing the Madison River has hung in there and continues to impress. Nocturnal stone flies are river wide and are producing some really good dry fly fishing in the morning hours. Follow that with a solid may fly hatch and early risers can get some good dry fly fishing almost all morning. The most solid rig to stay bent has been a chubby with some sort of purple may fly trailer. Lots of happy people and fish. Early has been much better than sleeping in ...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River in Montana 7-19-2016
Fishing continues to hold in there even with the big change from snow a week or so ago to heat now. Nocturnal stones have made an appearance along with tons of caddis, a solid may fly hatch mid morning and still some yellow sallies bumping around. All in all it is fishing well. The bobber lobbers are still king on numbers especially if you count all the whitefish. There feels like there are more whitefish in the river then ever. Drop any bead head over side of boat haul in whitefish. E...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River in Montana 7-12-2016
This recent bout of cooler weather, rain in the valley and even snow on the mountain has only helped the Madison River and Fishing. A drop of a few degrees in water temp really energizes the fish and puts them back on the feed. As for bugs goldens still around, yellow sallie, tons of caddis in all shapes and sizes as well as may flies around mid morning to mid day. If you are looking for dry fly fishing it is still game on here on the Madison River. Nymph guys are still dredging up a s...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River in Montana 7-6-2016
The Madison River has gotten over its Salmon Fly and 4th of july bender and has settled into some great summer fishing. There are still salmon flies above Lyons Bridge and if you fish a big bug up high you will still get the fish with pattern hang over to rise and eat but for the most part it is history. The salmon flies were great this year and if you fished here in the last few weeks you understand just how good it was. Now that we are past the crazyness summer fishing has continued on...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River in Montana 6-27-2016
The Madison River has dropped and cleared significantly over the last week and the salmon fly hatch is in full swing. Today our guides fished salmon fly dries from Windy Point all the way down below Varney Bridge. There is no better time to fish the Madison than right now if your looking for dry fly fishing. Salmon fly, caddis, golden stones, yellow sallies and PMD are all on the menu and the fish are eating them all. The point of the salmon fly hatch is right now above Pallisades around...
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Fishing Report Madison River Montana 6-17-2016
Everyone is looking for the big bad Salmon Fly on the Madison River right now. It is like Big Foot some have been seen and even documented but no one can show proof that the hatch is here. Are some fish looking up yes most certainly. Are they looking up for the mountains of caddis the goldens and PMD's I think so. Will they eat a orange colored chubby probably. Is the hatch hot and heavy now? Absolutely not. When is is going to hit in full force is anyones guess. I think they need ...
Read MoreFishing Report Upper Madison 06/13/16
The flows on the Madison are decreasing each day and the clarity is a solid eighteen inches. Up by the Three Dollar Bridge area nymphing a pats rubber legs through seem lines behind boulders proves to be very effective. The stretches heading towards town have consistently been pulling fish with rubber legs and girdle bugs variants. It looks like the fish are as excited for the up coming golden and salmonfly hatch's as the fly fisherman are. On a serious note it is nice to see the trout t...
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Fishing Report for the Upper Madison River 6-10-2016
With the Big weekend ahead the Madison River is coming into shape and is ready. We currently have good clarity of about 16 inches and a flow of about 2700 CFS at Varney Bridge. Best part about this is that most of the salmon fly nymphs and goldens are lining up on the bank. This means the big party is just around the corner. Will it happen this weekend is anyones guess but it is close. Yes the river is high but plenty fishable. Just be careful floating as low bridges and rocks come up qu...
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Fishing Report Upper Madison River 6-1-2016
Don't be afraid of the high and off colored water in the Madison River right now. There is still great fishing to be had. Currently the Madison River is running slightly over 2000 CFS and while not high by historical standards it is moving right along. The color varies by the day from pea soup bugger green to weak coffee. Either way it is fishing. We have been doing best with either big nymphs or streamers. In fact many of the larger fish are on the feed. If you catch a fish look at it...
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