Be sure to be legal before going fishing! Get your new license here.
The Lower Madison has been fishing well this week. The fish are in their usual early spring spots--deeper runs, holes, and drop-offs. Most fish are being caught on subsurface rigs and most fish are eating high-protein munchies like SJ wormies, firebeads, and scuds. Go bright with red, orange, or pink. A few larger fish are being caught on very slowly stripped or dragged streamers. White and olive have been the best colors, especially on these bright sunny days.
The flows are good for walking and wading and covering a good bit of water. Look for the buckets and deeper runs. Crayfish, sculpins, worms and eggs are the norm, with baetis and midges trailing. Streamer/swing fishing can be quite productive as well. If you are headed into Beartrap Canyon, be sure to read our blog on Fishing Big Canyon Waters.
The fishing in Bear Trap Canyon can be good as the dam helps to regulate water temps some. Consistent flows and the onset of some spring hatches are the latest from the Lower Madison River near Bozeman and Ennis. Trout in the Lower Madison will be found in their usual lies--along bankside structure, in mid-river buckets, drop-offs, and shelfs. Hatches of midges are a daily occurrence, but fish most likely won't key on hatching adults until later in the afternoon. To find fish feeding on the surface on hatching midges, target slower areas where mats of adult midges have accumulated. Blue Winged Olive mayfly hatches should increase in the coming weeks as well. Tandem subsurface rigs with crayfish, leeches, and worms paired with a smaller beadhead nymph or scud-type pattern are often the most successful. For swinging action, consider other baitfish patterns or articulated streamers through deeper buckets and holes.
If fish are feeding on midges a size 18 or 20 Buzzball or Griffiths Gnat are go to favorites of local anglers.
After all is said and done, the best way to find fish right now on the Lower Madison is by fishing tandem nymph rigs or dragging streamers and crayfish. Small beadheads paired with a large morsel like a crayfish or sculpin are the best options right now. Our Montana fishing guides like size 14 Lightning bugs or PTs or size 16 Perdigons or Green Machines for nymphs and Clouser or Turkey crayfish and a variety of streamer patterns.
Flies for the Lower Madison River Right Now:
Lightning Bugs in sizes 16-18
Firebead and hot bead SJ wormies in sizes 10-14
Zebra Midges in red or black in sizes 18-22
Sawyer PTs in sizes 18-22
Clouser crayfish in size 8-12
Pheasant Tails in sizes 16-20
Little Spankers in sizes 18-20
Pat's Rubberlegs in sizes 12-14
Sparkle Minnows in bright colors in sizes 2-6
Home Invaders in purple or olive in sizes 2-6
The Month Ahead:
The fishing on the Lower Madison will continue to improve in the coming months as temperatures rise. Midges can bring some smaller fish to the surface and eventually baetis will as well. The bigger trout tend to feed subsurface on the Lower Madison so the standard fair of worms, crayfish, Zonkers, eggs, baetis etc will be standard producers.
Long Term Fishing Forecast:
The Lower Madison can fish great up into the early summer when the temperatures finally shut things down in late June or early July. As we move into the early summer, expect consistent hatches of PMD’s, yellow sallies, caddis, golden stones and a few salmon flies.