Fishing Report for the Madison River 7/18/26

By John Way
/ 18th July 2026

River Conditions

The Madison River has a bunch of water in it right now. Flows are currently 1210 CFS at Kirby with a temp of 65 and 1370 CFS at Varney with a temp of 70. If you are planning on fishing the Madison River right now please go in the mornings. Temperature of the water is getting warm in the afternoons. We have been meeting all our guide trips from 5:30 am till 7:00 am and planning on being off the river by 2. Ice cream on Main Street is great right now in the afternoons. Fish get stressed when temps get warm. Catching them when it is warm will stress them to the point of death. Even if your fishing in the morning play fish fast and release them quick. No hero shots right now. Keep those fish wet and happy. It is supposed to be in the 80's for the next week or so and temps on the river will stay warm. The lower river is completely Hoot Owled. This means no fishing from 2 pm on. The lower near the Power House right below Ennis Lake is closed. Let make sure we are all treating the fish right. Fish in the mornings and drink in the afternoons.

Dry Fly

The dry fly fishing the past week has been hit or miss. Some days darn good and other not so much. There is still lots of caddis out there and the smaller fish will eat every loopie caddis or X caddis floated along the bank in the soft stuff. If you are in to numbers on dry fly stay near the banks and fish the caddis. Others are getting them on small hoppers, ants and nocturnal stone flies. The bigger fish are in the center. Do not be afraid of the middle of the river and the bouncy water. This is where the fish live during the summer. More oxygen in the water. The hopper and ant game is good right now and only getting stronger. Give it another few weeks and we should be really good. Most are doing the dry dropper game. We like small hoppers or chubbies with a jig nymph dropper. What wacky jig nymph will they eat on any given day? Who knows and cycle through them. Lately it has been stuff in the Pheasant tail family and the ever good Frenchie.

Nymph and Streamer Fishing

The nymph and streamer fishing like the dries has been hit or miss. Some days good some days not so much. The streamer fishing the same. We have been seeing some good streamer fishing on days when some of the creeks pump muddy water from thunder showers. This happened yesterday with Indian Creek. Indian Creek was blown out and pumping 5 X its normal flow because of a thunderstorm the night prior. This dirty up the river below for several miles. An olive sculpin in the dirty water always works. Otherwise keep streamers slow and deep. You will be rewarded.

Lots of good fishing to be had just need to start early. The best window for catching has been from about 8-12. The dries are working, the nymphs are working and few are getting a big one on a streamer. Get up and get out early. Stop by the store for the newest intel on the gizmo nymphs and best dry flies.