Madison Stoneflies - late June

[cedahm]

So after a few stops and starts on planning a small summer roadtrip, we ended up renting a place outside of Ennis at the end of the month.

I haven't been on the Madison in ~20 years. I've heard it's changed some .

Are the stories of bumper boats and 30 minutes idling at the ramps accurate? I'd love to float and attempt to catch the salmonfliy hatch a day or two, but if it's extreme combat fishing we'll do something else. If someone has context and can contrast with, for example, the upper Colorado, Roaring Fork, Green 'A' section, Grey Reef - what category of 'crowded' would you put the Madison in?

I won't have the boat with me so would have to hire a guide to float, and have a handful of other spots in the area that I'm excited to get back to, but given we'll be right there and I have never fished it this early, would love to spend a day looking for trout eating the big bugs (and I have plenty of resistance to salmonfly-induced disappointment as we chase this bug on the Colorado every year and generally 'hit it' about once every 4-5 years on average).

 

[MThuntr]

it's pretty bad these days. I can't compare to Colorado. There's a very high chance that most good guides are booked a year ago. your best bet is to wade fish the portions closed to boats

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I havent since somewhere around 2013 or 2014, but it was busy. Like silver creek brown drake hatch busy if ur familiar with that. Or like the big hole on opening weekend.

 

[MTLabrador]

I haven’t fished it in two years now, but I’d wade as well. Make sure to drink a Salmonfly honey rye or two for good luck.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I haven’t fished it in two years now, but I’d wade as well. Make sure to drink a Salmonfly honey rye or two for good luck.

Tasty!

 

[Doublecluck]

Fish the section between the bridge and lake that can’t be fished in the boat. Way less crowded. You can rent a canoe in boz and use for transport. Take out on the blm at the lake, whatever side is down wind that day.

 

[406LIFE]

IT might also be worth looking at a few of the spring creeks, but you'll pay good money to do it. I personally don't fish the Madison anymore because of number of anglers.

 

[Redside]

We did a family float on the upper last year and I didn't think it was that bad. We didn't exactly hit it at prime launch time so I don't know what that is like. It's probably a different scenario during the salmon fly hatch.

These guys are renting boats out of 4 corners if you're interested in your own boat. I don't know anything about them other than driving by their boats each day. https://hatchadventures.com/index.php/fishing-raft-rental-bozeman-montana/

 

[cedahm]

Thanks all for the rapid responses. Lots of excellent ideas in there (namely the beer) and much appreciated.

I will give the Hatch guys a ring before we get up there. That sounds like a fantastic idea (and also appears to be the same price as a day on one of the Spring Creeks).

 

[JEL]

Tasty!

Try 1/2 Salmon Fly and 1/2 Cold Smoke for a Smoked Salmon. Even tastier.

As for the Madison. FWP is looking at putting limits on it. That indicates it is pretty busy.

 

[Bambistew]

The hatch moves up river very rapidly, as you probably know... so timing is key, one or two days of good fishing then its gone. When I was a kid the prime time in the stretch between the lake and Varney was around the 3rd-6th of July. It seems like its about 7-10 days earlier now. Call the guys at Madison River Fishing Company and ask before you go. I grew up fishing that river, and its a shell of its former self in terms of being loved to death. We went there last summer, and it was stupid busy... not Kenai river busy, but a close second. I would rather fish the mountain streams and catch fish of equal size. hint... and about 8x more of them and see no people. hint, hint...

I would second the rent a boat or kayak and fish from town to the lake if you want to avoid the most people... or wade in around at Valley Garden, walk down a ways before you start fishing, most people wear themselves out before they get to the better water... more fishing than you can do in a day in that stretch (VG to the lake). As far as people, this section will have the fewest, but still sees a fair amount of traffic. The section with the fewest will be in the Bear Trap, but its a gnarly float, or a really long walk to get away from the people. If you can find a guide to float you, this section is the best on the river, no doubt about it. The upper river fish are fished to death and can be hard to catch, the lower river, is always money. However they could have "hoot owl" restrictions at times when the water gets too warm, but its usually later in July/Aug.

 

[cedahm]

I grew up fishing that river, and its a shell of its former self in terms of being loved to death. We went there last summer, and it was stupid busy... not Kenai river busy, but a close second. I would rather fish the mountain streams and catch fish of equal size. hint... and about 8x more of them and see no people. hint, hint...

Hint taken

I will for sure look into getting a boat of some kind for a day and checking the stretch above the lake but especially with the boy in tow, mountain creeks seem like the better bet.

 

[Northwoods Labs]

It is busy when I've seen the Madison. I'm not that great at fly fishing and seeing all those folks kinda intimidated me. I've been in that area of MT a handful of times and, other than the Gallatin, we never fished a "big name" river and yet we caught all kinds of big trout