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The Madison River
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From its headwaters at the confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon Rivers in Yellowstone National Park to where it meets the Missouri River near Three Forks, the Madison River flows for 140 miles across one of the most magnificent landscapes in Montana. Due to its healthy rainbow and brown trout fishery and nearly unlimited public access, the Madison is one of the most popular flyfishing rivers in the West. The so-called “fifty-mile riffle” section of the Madison between Quake Lake and the town of Ennis draws anglers from around the world. It was here on the upper Madison where state fisheries biologist Dick Vincent did his groundbreaking research in the late 1960s that showed stocking hatchery-raised trout in the river reduced the productivity of wild trout. As a result of this research, Montana adopted a policy of not stocking hatchery-raised fish in any of the state’s rivers or streams.
Lesser known to anglers than the Upper Madison but perhaps even more visually spectacular is the 1,500-foot deep Beartrap Canyon just downstream from Ennis Dam. While class IV whitewater rapids keep away all but the most experienced float fishermen, a good hiking trail parallels this section of the river for seven miles. Few places in the world make a flyfisher’s heart sing more than the Beartrap during the annual salmonfly hatch in June.
While the Madison River is blessed with excellent water quality and a world-class wild trout fishery, it is not without its problems. Two dams owned by PPL Montana – one at Hebgen Lake and the other at Ennis Lake – alter the river’s natural hydrograph to the extent that water temperatures downstream from Ennis often reach lethal levels for trout from early July to early September. In an attempt to alleviate this problem, PPL Montana is experimenting with pulsed flows out of Hebgen Lake to cool water temperatures in the lower river.
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FISHING REPORTS
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STREAM FLOWS
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