Madison River Fishing in Early Spring

While summer may bring crowded conditions to this blue-ribbon river, early spring offers both solitude and opportunity for the patient angler. Warming waters stir insects, providing steady early-season fare for Rainbow and Brown Trout. Blue-winged olives and Midge hatches begin in earnest, with peak activity occurring on calm, overcast days.

Anglers fishing the Madison River near Ennis can expect an hour or two of reliable dry fly fishing when conditions are “just right” in the early spring. However, the experienced fly fisher understands that focusing on subsurface fly fishing techniques will yield more consistent results when hatches are sparse.

The standard, early-spring Madison River fishing nymph rig consists of a 7 1/2-foot 3x tapered leader with a strike indicator placed 1-2 feet below the fly line. We prefer to start with a lightly weighted stonefly nymph or generalist pattern, trailed with a midge or Baetis nymph trailed about 18 inches behind. The addition of a BB-sized split shot above the first fly helps achieve the desired "dead drift" critical this time of the year.

Early Spring Upper Madison River Fly Box

Indicator Nymph Fishing Advice

Learning to fly fish with nymphs, effectively can frustrate even seasoned anglers. Focus first on smooth, accelerated casting strokes with an extended pause to fully unroll the leader and flies. Next comes the more difficult task of achieving natural fly presentation under the surface. Imagine those flies bouncing along the rocky bottom, mimicking helpless bugs swept relentlessly downstream. The indicator serves as your eyes, floating free of any unnatural drag that impairs drift. Mending upstream at key points enables the nymphs to hold their course, riding those subsurface seams where trout feed.

Warmer days and increased insect activity bring improved nymphing conditions on the Madison River by early March. Rainbow Trout begin moving toward tributary streams and into the various side channels near Ennis, Montana for the spawning season, so focus efforts away from shallow gravel beds holding spawning fish. Instead, target deeper runs and pools that hold actively feeding trout.

Improve Your Madison River Fishing Skills

Honing your Madison River fishing program with a variety of nymph fishing techniques now will pay dividends come summer, when the river transforms into a bonafide hatch factory churning out insects and rising trout in equal abundance.