Everything You Need To Know About Fishing Madison River

    The Madison River is the crown jewel of southwestern Montana and northwestern Wyoming. It is a head tributary of the Missouri River which originates in the northwestern end of Yellowstone National Park at a place called Madison Junction, at the confluence of the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers. From its origin, the river flows about 140 miles west and north through the southwestern Montana mountains to join the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers at the town of Three Forks, they then combine to form Missouri river.

     In the upper reaches of the river, the Hebgen Dam forms Hebgen Lake in Gallatin County. In its middle region, the river reaches Ennis Lake, which is created by Madison Dam, which provides hydroelectric power. This river offers a diversity of water environments and displays a variegated character as it courses from Yellowstone Park to the Missouri river. Different parts of the river provide different scenery, habitat, hatches, and demand different fishing practices. It turns into a completely different river from one section to another. Though different parts of the river provide terrific fishing at different times, and you will always find a location on the river that fishes well in each month of the year.

Types of fish at the Madison River:

     Madison river consists of a variety of native as well as non-native fish species. The river primarily had only 11 native species that includes longnose dace, arctic grayling, longnose sucker, mountain sucker, rocky mountain sculpin, mountain whitefish, white sucker, stonechat and westslope cutthroat trout. Other fishes that have been introduced at the river include brown trout, brook trout, fathead minnow, common carp, Utah chub, rainbow trout, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The river is managed to offer a diverse recreational fishery for both the non-native and native species. The river is managed without any normal stocking schedule for any part of the river and as a wild fishery river.
     The section of the river from Yellowstone Park to the Hebgen lake is only allowed for wade fishing. It is also not very productive for fishing in the peak summer seasons because of the warm water temperatures. October is considered the best time to fish in this part of Madison. During the fall, the water temperature decreases due to which large trout enters the river from the Hebgen lake. Monster trout are hooked up from this section every year. During the fall, a great technique is to use the nymphing egg patterns trailed by the baetis nymph. Anglers also prefer to swing large streamers across the holding runs to connect with trophy browns.

     Good populations of brown and rainbow trout are available here. The fish average about 14 to 16 inches, however, more than 20 inches of fish are also commonly caught in this stretch. In the upper 8 miles of this section, best hatches occur which offers the best fly fishing of the river. Excellent wading skills are required because there are numerous, slippery and round rocks in this section, however, this characteristic makes the fishing outstanding.
     50-mile riffle is what the Upper Madison is called. This stretch is envisioned by most visitors when Madison is mentioned. It is fished mostly from the drift boat and fly fishing is best here. Beautiful trout waters are cradled by the snow covered mountains surrounded by wide plains while the water is tempting to cast a fly at this section. The riffle and pocket-water nature of this section provide success to the anglers by presenting a dry fly rig, ripping streamers or nymphs.
The braids are the section starting from the Varney Bridge where the river forms into a new character. Instead of one main channel, the river approaching Ennis town and Ennis lake splinter into smaller side channels. This section consistently provides the biggest trout of the year. Deep, big, and hardcore nymphing works here.

Amenities at the river:

Vacation rental, boat rentals, restaurants, and many other amenities are available.
Other attractions:
Various campgrounds are available that offer swimming, horseback riding and hiking at the riverside. Wildlife watching areas, museums, national forest, visitors center all attract the vacationers.

If you are looking for a blue ribbon trout stream, then the Madison River is your next stop. Here large and trophy-sized variants of trout species are caught each year.