Madison River Fishing Reports

September 2022 UPDATED 9/09/2022  Montana FWP will be conducting their Fall shocking of the Upper Madison on the following dates: Pine Butte: September 8th, 9th, 12th and Septemper 19th - 21st. Varney: September 14th - 16th and September 22nd, 23rd and...

September 2022UPDATED 9/02/2022 Montana FWP will be conducting their Fall shocking of the Upper Madison on the following dates: Pine Butte: September 8th, 9th, 12th and Septemper 19th - 21st. Varney: September 14th - 16th and September 22nd, 23rd and...

August 2022UPDATED 8/22/2022 Hoot Owl Restrictions are being implemented on the Lower Madison from the confluence of the Jefferson River up to the Ennis Lake Dam. This week on the Madison River has been hot and sunny, we’ve experienced very...

August 2022 UPDATED 8/15/2022  Hoot Owl Restrictions are being implemented on the Lower Madison from the confluence of the Jefferson River up to the Ennis Lake Dam. The Upper Madison is on Hoot Owl restrictions from Eight Mile Ford down to...

August 2022 UPDATED 8/5/2022  With the past week being extremely warm, Eight Mile ford fishing access to Ennis Lake has been put on Hoot Owl restrictions, meaning that section of river is closest to all angling at 2:00 P.M. Due to the...

July 2022 UPDATED 7/29/2022  Air temperatures in the Madison Valley are in the low to mid 90’s with nighttime temps dropping into the 50’s. The river dropped 100 CFS at Cameron bringing it down to 1420 CFS this week. Water temps...

July 2022   UPDATED 7/22/2022  NOTICE - Hoot Owl has been implemented on the Lower Madison River today. No fishing after 2PM on the entire river below Ennis Dam. It’s shaping up to be another lovely week here in the Madison Valley. Nighttime...

July 2022  UPDATED 7/09/2022   Salmonflies are coming off in full force from palisades up to quake lake, and have come and gone through the lower sections of the river. Even without the big bugs, the fishing on the lower portions of...

June 2022UPDATED 6/20/2022* *Monday Morning Update* The Madison is still blown out and colored brown. Both the town takeout and Valley Garden are currently closed. UPDATED 6/17/2022 It’s an incredibly special day for not only Trout Stalkers, but all residents...

June 2022  UPDATED 6/13/2022  What a weekend for weather here in the Madison Valley! We witnessed thunder, lightning, and even a fair share of precipitation. Virginia City was declared the music capital of the world on Saturday. A huge thank...

June 2022 Updated 6/03/2022  This past week we have been blessed with a lot of moisture here in the Madison Valley. River flows bumped up to 2000 CFS on Sunday and have started to taper down to around 1240 CFS (Cameron...

May 2022 Updated 5/26/2022  Happy Thursday Madison Valley! Let it be known that at approximately 7:07PM on May 17th, John “Tarpon Time” Kelley declared the official start of the Summer season. We’ve seen a mixture of warm sunny days and the...

May 2022Updated 5/20/2022 Elina here, writing the weekly fishing report. I finished my first year of college last week and started working in the shop! Having only been home for about five days, I have not been out fishing yet,...

May 2022Updated 5/13/2022 The Upper Madison has provided anglers with some great fishing this past week. The streamer fishing has picked up noticeably and the nymphing remains consistent. Black sculpin patterns like a Trevor or Mini Dungeon have seemed to...

May 2022 Updated 5/06/2022  It’s another beautiful spring in Montana. We have had snow, rain, and even some sunshine. We have still mainly been nymphing on the Upper, with a little streamer and dry fly fishing on the way. With our...

April 2022 Updated 4/21/2022  As warmer weather approaches in Southwest Montana, the town of Ennis has slowly awakened from its annual hibernation. Restaurants are filling and anglers are beginning to flock to the Upper Madison in waves. The mass migration of...

April 2022Updated 4/15/2022 It appears that we’re entering another wild Spring here in the Madison Valley! With temperatures almost reaching 70 degrees last week, the whole Upper Madison opening up, to even a foot of snow recorded here in town,...

April 2022 Updated 4/1/2022 With Temperatures on the rise and the river still on the low, fishing has been hit or miss. We have been having some great days mixed in with a few slow ones. Many fish are starting...

MARCH 2022 Updated 3/18/2022 Good morning and happy Friday, Madison Valley! The weather here in Ennis has been unseasonably warm as of late. Current weather forecasts predict balmy temperatures with a potential high of 56°F arriving on Thursday the 24th....

March 2022Updated 3/3/2022 March is upon us and the Madison Valley is warming up. The last week of February hit us with a cold spell that sealed up our gorge. Please be aware of the gorge when you're floating as...

February 2022Updated 2/1/2022 February is a notoriously arduous month to get through. Most folks spend their nights at the vise accompanied by dyed feathers and fine bourbon. Taste enough dye (or perhaps just bourbon) from these finely tinged feathers and...