Lower Madison River Fishing Report

Lower Madison River Fishing Report

11/25/2024

Be sure that you are being watchful for redds. Our brown trout are trying to spawn this time of year and it is up to us to make sure they are protected. DO NOT EVER fish towards a trout that is sitting on shallow or polished gravel and sitting relatively still or right on top of another trout. They are trying to spawn and you need to leave them undisturbed.

The Lower Madison River is a winter time haven for fly fishers. The water here stays just a bit warmer than most of our other rivers, unless you are on a spring creek, and consistently provides some awesome opportunity for walk wade fishing and float fishing alike.

Recently a lot of the grass has died and all of the crawfish have either died or burrowed until spring so food sources are a bit smaller and a bit more scarce. Those larger fish are still looking for a big snack so using leeches or small, really flashy streamers can get you to find some more sizeable fish while on the Lower Madison this winter.

Whether you are float fishing or walk wading, spending some time in deep, slow runs will be how you find a lot of opportunities. Moving too fast or not taking the time to fish the same run at multiple depths can keep a lot of anglers limited in the winter time. While nymph rigs are going to be the primary way of fishing for the next few months, dry fly fishing during prolific midge hatches can be really awesome on this river.

Worms, leeches, annd rubber legs are the attractor patterns that we like and one of those will likely always be on a nymph rig unless we are fishing small emergers or dry flies during a good winter time hatch. Pairing a variety of small midge larvae, caddis larvae, and midge or mayfly emergers will help you find fish all day long. You can't really go wrong with a fly right now as long as you fish it at multiple depths and put it through the same run a few times.

Dries: Buzzballs #18-20, Para-Sipper BWO #18-22, Parachute Adams (natural, purple, patriot) #18-20, Midge Cluster #18-20, Brook's Sprout Baetis #18-22, Double Vision BWO #18-20, Para-Wulff Adams #16-18

Nymphs: Jig Crossfit Midge (red, black) #18-20, Nyman's Shop Vac #16-18, Guide's Choice Hairs Ear(Olive, Natural)#14-18, Perdigons (Black, Pearl, Green, Purple) #18-20, Spanish Bullet Perdigon #16-18

Streamers: Sex Dungeons, Barely Legals, Copper Zonkers, Sheila's Sculpin, Silk Kitty, Mini Kill Whitey, Li'l Kims have been productive.  Play with color and profile every day. Skinny vs. big heads, dark vs. light, etc.

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Thanks for checking out our Madison River Fishing Report brought to you from Big Sky, MT.