Madison River Fishing Report
The Tackle Shop Fly Shop and Fishing Guides in Ennis, Montana
Fishing Report for the Madison River 9/9
Fishing is getting better and better each day. The river is getting lonely compared to the crazy of summer season. Streamers are picking up and will continue to get better by the day. Hoppers and ants are still the ticket for the dry fly anglers in the afternoon. Dragging around a sculpin or zonker in the morning will bring a big fish or two. Keep a small bead head behind for more fish. After lunch switch to dry dropper or even better two dries. Hopper ant is a great combo ...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 8/31
That cold and rain we had a few weeks ago was just what the doctor order for the Madison River fish. It took a while but the fish are starting to look up again for hoppers and ants in the afternoon. This is a sun and water temp thing. The more sun we get to the river bank the better the terrestrial fishing will be. Problem is that the smoke is making sun to the river more problematic. Hoppers need direct sun to start to fly. With the artificial overcast it is good for fishin...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 8-23-21
The cool down that the Madison River has seen in the past week with the rain has changed the game. Water temps are a little on the chilly side right now. Plan on letting the water temps bump up during the day for the best fishing. The rain was needed but the smoke still remains. This is making the hopper fishing less than ideal. With no real sun the hoppers do not fly around and turn into trout food. Thank the smoke for the sub optimal hopper fishing this summer. ...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 8-1
It's that hopper time of the year on the Madison River. Walk any of the banks and you will find tons of small hoppers. Not a bunch of the big ones but many small hoppers. The fish are really taking notice especially when the sun is out. If you going fishing this week the hopper dropper rig has been best. We like smaller sized 10 foam hoppers in pink, tan or peach color. The dropper has been P tails, prince or lightning bugs. This has been working from about 10 am on. ...
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Madison River Fishing Report in the time of Hoot Owl
Yes it is true The Madison River has been marked with the Hoot Owl restrictions. This means no fishing at all from 2 pm till midnight. While there are normally very specific criteria to enact and redact hoot owl restrictions this time FWP is winging it. If you look at the press release it is admitted that the criteria has not been met FWP is still enacting these restrictions because of heavy use. A little bit of a leap from the historical rules. Read the full press release from FWP...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 6-19-21
The salmon fly hatch is in full swing and the Madison River is a big party right now. Like fishing big dries? Go ahead. Like little dry flies? Those are working. Like streamers? Chuck and duck my friend. Like nymphing? That will catch you a bunch of fish. The long and short of it is any way you want to fish you can catch fish doing it on the Madison River right now. As long as the big bugs stick around, caddis hatch, PMD's hatch and goldens and sallies are abundant ...
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Madison River Fishing Report June 1 2021
We are in the heart of what we will see for runoff this season on the Madison River. Mud is coming from many of the tributaries mostly from the West Fork. The dam is not releasing much water as they are trying to fill the lake. This is the most important thing for cool water all summer. With these conditions the main river is off colored right now. Do not be afraid. The level has not come up much so the fish are in the same spots as normal. If your fishing now the girdl...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 5-7-2021
Caddis Everywhere! Caddis, Caddis everywhere. The famed Mothers Day Caddis hatch has started on the Madison River. The lower river below the Bear Trap Canyon is covered up in dry fly fishing and the Upper River above Ennis is just starting. Think Tuesday of next week if your looking or some really good dry fly fishing. If your fishing this weekend during the storm think nymphing stone flies and caddis larva. Plenty of both in the soup right now and the fish should be looking for them...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 4-24-2021
Spring is in the air and it is time to get out and fish. Good weather on the horizon all week. The thing about spring fishing is that the better the weather the better the fishing. String a few warm days together and it is game on. We are going to see just that in the next week. Nymphs, streamers even some dries will be on the menu. Blue winged olives are starting to bounce around along with some skwala stone flies. Nice weather days with overcast will make some fish lo...
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Madison River Fishing Report for 3/26/2021
Nice weather is on the horizon for the weekend and the fishing is getting better and better. The Madison River continues to fish well and a little bump in water temps from this weekend will only help. The water temps are starting the day low in the high 30's but getting up to above 40. Once we see morning temps around that 42 mark it will be game on. Folks are getting fish with the standard spring stuff of stone fly nymphs, worms, eggs and shiny and tiny midge and may fly nymph...
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