Lower Madison River Fishing Report

The gauge below Ennis Dam read 1160 cfs this morning with water at 43.2 degrees. That's a solid winter-pattern flow for the Lower, enough water to keep the fish comfortable and float the Warm Springs to Black's Ford run without dragging. Clarity is good, call it three-plus feet, with that slight green tailwater tint the Lower always carries thanks to Ennis Lake. All the summer problems are off the table. The Lower pulls warm water off the top of Ennis Lake and cooks in July, and hoot owl restrictions shut down afternoons when temps run hot, but at 43 degrees that's a memory. There are no FWP restrictions on this reach right now, you can fish it dawn to dark, though in November there's zero reason to. The water is coldest at sunrise and the fish don't really wake up until it warms a degree or two. The afternoon bite, roughly noon to four, has been the whole show. The Lower in late fall is a nymphing river, and the menu is what it always is down here: crayfish, worms, sowbugs, and midges. The fish are stacked in the deeper slots and troughs, and the weed beds that choke this river all summer have mostly died back, which makes drifting deep rigs a lot less miserable than it was in September. Find the dark green slots between the pale weedy flats and you've found the fish. The riffle corners where a trough breaks off the shallows have been money. Midges are hatching midday and on the calm, warmer afternoons you'll find pods of fish sipping in the slicks and back eddies, especially from Black's Ford down. It's heads-up fishing, small flies and soft presentations, and worth carrying a dry rod for even if you nymph most of the day. Bear Trap Canyon is a real option right now and almost nobody is in there. Access is on foot only, from the trailhead at the downstream end off Highway 84, and the trail runs about nine miles upstream toward the dam. You don't need to march nine miles. The first mile or two of canyon water holds plenty of fish, and the deep boulder runs in there fish really well with a crayfish pattern bounced along bottom. Wear studs, those rocks are greased bowling balls, and remember you're hiking out at the end of the day with short November light, so watch your turnaround time. The browns down here are spawning too, same drill as upstream, leave the gravel redds alone and fish the deep water below them. Streamer fishing has been fair, not great, better on the gray days, with smaller olive and white stuff outproducing the big articulated bugs. If I'm being straight with you, the Upper has been fishing a touch better day in and day out this week, and if you want rising fish the Upper's BWO tailouts are the better play. But if you want solitude and a shot at a heavy rainbow on a crayfish, the Lower is a fine way to spend a mild November afternoon. Check the Lower Madison access points before you go, a couple of the sites get sketchy once the ramps start icing in the mornings.

Tactics for today

Sleep in, eat a real breakfast, and be on the water at noon. Rig the crayfish or worm up top with the sowbug or Zebra Midge behind, set your indicator deep, and work the slots methodically, three or four drifts per lane, then step down. Add a split shot, the fish are glued to the bottom and a rig riding two feet up catches nothing. When you spot sippers in a slick, switch to the Griffith's Gnat on 6x with a reach cast so your tippet lands off their window. In Bear Trap, high-stick the boulder pockets with the crayfish rig, short drifts, lead the flies with your rod tip, and set on anything that hesitates.