Madison River Fishing Report
The Tackle Shop Fly Shop and Fishing Guides in Ennis, Montana
Fishing Report for the Madison River 6-21
Salmon Fly Hatch Yes the salmon fly hatch is going on the Madison River. Big bugs are mid to upper river. We have been having the best luck in the Windy Point and Pallisades area. Yes they moved up the river quickly. 85 degrees the first week or so of June and super low water in the river because they are not releasing from the dam will make this hatch burn hot. Literally it did most of the river in a week. If you are looking to get your big bug fix concentra...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 6-14
Salmon Fly? The million dollar question we get asked in the fly shop every day. Are they here yet? The short answer is yes you can get some good salmon fly fishing on the Madison River. The bulk of the hatch has not gotten going as of yet. There are bugs scattered mostly lower river below varney. The fish are looking at the adults some what. Keep with it. You will find one. They are not rising in every run or every bank but if you stay with it right now it will produce. We l...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 5-14-25
Runoff We are seeing runoff conditions from the warm weather last week. Most of the river and all of the creeks are running high and off colored. This week with the cool weather rain and snow up high we should see a drop in some of the creeks melt and the river decrease as well. This might be a darn good window to fish. Currently the flows are 1100 CFS at Kirby and 1810 at Varney. Not super high by historical standards but still up from the winter flows. Also we have seen the creeks...
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Fishing Report for the Madison 4-24-25
The River Well things are really happening around here right now. If you are in town fishing you know how good it has been. Hungry fish, cold water and nice weather has made this spring really good . As long as the weather continues to be stable we should see good fishing. That is the rule of spring. Good weather good fishing. The Madison is currently at 965 CFS at Kirby and 1150 CFS at Varney. Temps have been hitting that magic 50 degree number in the afternoon. The first perso...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 10-12-24
The River Currently the Madison River is sitting at 809 CFS at Kirby Ranch and a temp of 50 degrees. It is 1010 CFS at Varney Bridge and a temp of 50 as well. The Madison River is in good shape and low and clear. We should get a little more water back into the river this week when the larger ditches that pull water are closed. This should add a few more CFS to each section. This is good as getting around in a boat from 8 Mile to Burnt Tree is challenging at this low level. Overa...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 9-22-24
Fall Fishing The Madison River continues to produce . The river is in great shape with flows of 976 CFS at Kirby and a temp of 52-60 degrees. At Varney Bridge the flow is 1140 CFS and a temp of 50-56 degrees. This is really great flow and awesome temps for fall fishing. Streamers have become more productive and will continue to improve. The cool water and rain of the last week sure help a bunch. River traffic has slowed and will continue to slow this next week as more and more locals ar...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 9-9-24
Grasshoppers The grasshopper bite is still on the Madison River. We are seeing fish caught on hoppers river wide. The Madison River is currently 875 CFS at Kirby Ranch and 1040 CFS at Varney. Temps are topping out in the 63 range. They dropped the river this past week. Construction of a new dock on Ennis Lake is forcing the DAM Folks to drop the level of Ennis Lake considerably and then reduce flows on the Upper Madison River. This drop put the fish off for a few days but they are b...
Read MoreFishing Report for the Madison River Labor Day 2024
Is it Fall Yet on the Madison While it might be labor day weekend it still is summer mode here on the Madison River. We will continue to be in summer mode with dry flies, hoppers, ants and other floating attractors until we get the first big front of fall. This usually happens about middle of the month. We like to call this the equinox storm. This signifies the change from summer to fall. One day your throwing hoppers and summer living is easy the next streamer time and fall. Wh...
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Madison River Fishing Report for 8-25-24
Hoppers Still The Game Hoppers and ants are still the game on the Madison River. Most of the good dry fly fishing is happening after lunch. The golden hours for dry fly fishing is between say 10:30 and 4pm. Sleep in a little and get a good breakfast and fish past lunch. It will be worth it. The Madison River continues to drop. Currently we are sitting at 976 CFS at Kirby Ranch with morning temp of 56 degrees. At Varney Bridge we are at 1130 CFS with a morning temp of 55 degrees. ...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 8-18
Hoppers Anyone? The Madison River is in great shape for the middle of August. The flows have dropped to 988 CFS at Kirby and 1140 CFS at Varney Bridge. The cooler weather made it possible that the lower Madison did not need pulse flows to keep it cool. They no longer need to fill Ennis Lake daily so the flows on the Upper Dropped. While this may feel like a bad thing it is actually great for the dry fly fishing. The lower river gives more area river wide for fish to eat dry flies. M...
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