The highly renowned Madison River is formed by the confluence of the Gibbons and the Firehole Rivers in the western section of Yellowstone National Park near West Yellowstone, Montana. It flows along the West Entrance Road from Madison Junction almost all the way to the West Yellowstone National Park.
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The Madison River is already a good sized stream when it first begins. Both the Gibbon River and the Firehole River are fairly large streams and they are their largest at the point the Madison begins. The great river is damed just outside the park and flows into Hebgen Lake. Most of the larger trout move into the lake during the hot summer months but return to the river to spawn.
Because both the Gibbon and Firehole River have geysers along its banks, the Madison River can get too warm for the trout to feed aggressively during the hot summer months. The added warm water from the geysers together with the Summer heat often raises the water temperature to a level the trout are best left alone.
During low water years, if the stream gets very warm, the resident trout usually become lethargic and feed little, if any. The best time to fish the stream is during the month of June, provided it’s clear enough, and from about the first of September until the season closes the first of November. There are more fish in the river and the water tempature is usually ideal.
During the early fall, brown trout from Hebgen Lake move upstream into the Madison River to spawn. Large rainbow trout follow them. Many anglers consider this the prime time to fish the Madison in the park. The lower areads of the river can become crowded with anglers casting streams and large nymphs trying to catch the aggressive large trout.
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Copyright James Marsh 2012
