Madison River Fishing Report 5/21/26

River Conditions

The Madison River is in great conditions going into the Memorial Day Weekend. It is currently flowing at 684 CFS at Kirby Ranch with a temp of 43 degrees. At Varney it is 904 CFS with a temp of 46 degrees. Yes this is a little low for this time of year. The folks at the Dam are holding water as they should be. This will make the river lower than expected. If we get two or more days above say 75 the creeks will start to pump again. This will put some color into the river. Be not afraid. The fish will continue to eat and be catchable you might just need to adjust. We will probably see one more push of dirty creek water.

Nymphing

Nymph fishing is still the best bet to get and stay bent. We like stone fly stuff along with worms, eggs, and prince nymph. These have been keeping us hooked up for the last week. The salmon fly nymphs are starting to crawl around and get active and the fish have taken notice. We like standard Pats family of stone fly nymphs. Lately the black or coffee has been super. Follow this with a worm or caddis looking nymph or even a prince and you are sure to find some fish. With the river being lower than normal remember to shorten the distance between your bobber and the first nymph. We have been successful with about 5 feet.

Streamers

For the guy who is wanting to throw streamers I say go ahead. We have been getting some really nice brown trout on the streamer. Yes you will not catch as many as the bobber rig but you will find the right fish. We have been liking the olive sculpin stuff along with streamers from the sparkle minnow family. Slow strip or twitch off the bank has been working best. Remember keep it slow as long as the water temps are below say 54. Once we reach that magic number they will chase more.

Dry Fly

Some are finding a few fish eating dries right now. Mostly side channel slow moving stuff. PMD's are just starting so look for little may flies. Some caddis still out there along with the stone flies on the horizon. It is going to be a good dry fly season and this is just the start. In a week or so it will be game on.

Stop by the store for the latest intel along with the right flies for the day. We love to help.