Madison River Fishing Report
The Tackle Shop Fly Shop and Fishing Guides in Ennis, Montana
Fishing Report for the Madison River 8/22/26
River Conditions The Madison River is in great shape for this time of year. It is currently flowing at 875 CFS at kirby with a temp of 58 degrees. At Varney it is 971 CFS and 61 degrees. With the cooler weather we have been having the folks at the dam cut the water back. They no longer need to pulse flow the lower river so there is no need to constantly fill Ennis Lake. While the flows decreased on the upper this mean better wading options for everyone and more dry fly opportuniti...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 8-9-26
River Conditions The Madison River is in remarkably good shape considering the lack of snow we had this winter and the heat we had most of July. Currently the river is 1130 CFS at Kirby Ranch and 58 degrees. At Varney it is 1250 CFS and 60 degrees. The cool mornings we have been. having are keeping the flows cool and the fish happy. Remember there is still Hoot Owl restrictions from 8 Mile to the Lake. No fishing on that section from 2 pm till midnight. The rest of the river is ga...
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Fishing Report for The Madison River 7/28/26
River Conditions The Madison River currently has a bunch of water in it. This is because they need to pulse flows out of Ennis Dam to moderate temps on the lower. To make up for that they needed to raise flows on the upper to fill Ennis Lake every night. Currently the flows are 1570 CFS at Kirby ranch and 61 degrees. At Varney it is 1680 CFS and 62 degrees. The big thing is the water temps. We have Hoot Owl restrictions from 8 mile down to Ennis Lake. This means no fishing from 2 p...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 7/18/26
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 afterno...
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Fishing Report for the Heat on the Madison 7/11/2026
River Conditions With the summer heat wave we are seeing the Upper Madison River is in good shape. Currently the flow at Kirby is 1110 CFS and 62 degrees. At Varney Bridge the flow is 1250 CFS and 64 degrees. While the flow is good we are starting to see the temps creep up there. Today the lower Madison went on hoot owl. Soon they will need to start pulsing flows on the lower to keep the temps lower. When this happens they will increase the flow on the upper to move water and keep ...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 7/5
River Conditions The Madison River is in great shape. The cold and rainy and snow we got last week saved our summer and refreshed the river. The Dam is full and the river has plenty of water in it right now. Currently the flow is 1120 CFS at Kirby Ranch and 56 Degrees. At Varney the flow is 1370 CFS and a temp of 57 degrees. This is right in the sweet spot for the Madison. The creeks will start to decrease inflow in the river and the general level will drop slightly. Otherwise...
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Salmon Flies on the Madison?
Have they Arrived? The Madison River is in great shape right now. The little. pulse of dirty water has more or less gone and we are green and beautiful. At Kirby the river is 1270 CFS and at Varney the flow is 1390 CFS. This is right in the sweet spot for fishing for both waders and floaters. The big question have the bugs arrived. Short answer is yes. There are some bugs down near Ennis in the Varney to Town stretch. The hatch started a few days ago and then the cold days shut ...
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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 t...
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Fishing Report for the Madison River 5-1-26
The Madison River is in great shape and our spring to remember continues. Currently the flow is 701 CFS and 41 degrees at Kirby Ranch and 840 CFS and 45 degrees at Varney Bridge. Yes it is a little low and will challenge rowers river wide but the fish are where they should be and the water is cold. The folks at the Dam are probably holding as much water as they can with the dry winter. We have seen a few storms that dumped on the high country and added some much needed snow to our basin....
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April 15 Madison River Fishing Report
With all the spring like weather we have been seeing this might just be the best spring fishing we have seen. It has been some darn good fishing for the first half of April. The river at Kirby is 809 CFS and about 42 degrees and at Varney it is 1020 CFS and 47 degrees. While we will probably not see much more water in the river from the Dam folks this is a good spring level. I would bet they are holding as much water as possible with the dry winter we had. Nymph Fishing is King F...
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