Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Current Upper Madison River Fly Fishing Report

Updated 09/03/2026

Current Flow: ~ 864 CFS @ Kirby Ranch near Cameron & 910 CFS @ Ennis

The Upper Madison has been fishing well overall, although there have definitely been some tougher days mixed in lately. We’ve had some wind, colder nights, and a noticeable change in the weather, and it seems like the fish are still settling into that transition from late summer into fall. Some days the smaller fish have been pretty consistent, while other days even they’ve been a little picky. There are still some really nice fish being caught, but it hasn’t necessarily been consistent from day to day. With the cooler nights and falling water temperatures, we’re also starting to see the best fishing window shift around a little bit, so don’t feel like you absolutely have to be on the water at first light anymore. Deeper riffles, buckets, pocket water, and mid-river seams are all worth spending some time on instead of just pounding the banks.

For dry flies, smaller ants and beetles have been some of the better choices when the fish are willing to look up. Smaller attractor dries like Micro Chubby Chernobyls are still working, and hoppers are definitely not out of the picture yet, especially as the afternoon warms up. Blue-Winged Olives are also starting to make a little bit of an appearance, particularly from late morning into the early afternoon, and that should only become a bigger part of the program as we move farther into September. Nymphing has been good with a little bit of everything. Rubber legs and stonefly nymphs are still staples, while smaller Baetis patterns, caddis nymphs, Lightning Bugs, Perdigons, Spanish Bullets, Blowtorches, and Pheasant Tails are all worth rotating through. A bigger stonefly, rubber leg, or small sculpin-style fly with a smaller attractor or Baetis dropper underneath continues to be a great way to cover water.

Streamer fishing has also started to pick up a little bit as we head toward fall. We’ve been able to find a few better fish throwing streamers first thing in the morning, and cloudy or lower-light periods can keep that bite going a little longer. Smaller sculpin and baitfish patterns are a good place to start, with olive, white, black, and brown all worth having in the box. You don’t always have to aggressively strip them either—a slower strip, swing, or even dragging a small streamer behind a nymph rig can pick up fish. The former hoot-owl restriction from Eight Mile down toward Ennis is no longer listed on Montana FWP’s current restriction page, opening the main Upper Madison back up for a normal day of fishing. Overall, we’re in that early fall transition where things can be a little unpredictable from one day to the next, but there are still plenty of good fish being caught and September fishing should continue to improve as the weather settles in.