# Madison River Fishing Report — Friday, August 14, 2026

Generated 2026-08-14T13:03:55.131Z. Reports refresh twice daily (~7 AM and ~7 PM Mountain); gauge readings refresh every 30 minutes from USGS.

| Reach | Flow | Water temp | Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Yellowstone (Yellowstone Park to Hebgen Lake) | 329 CFS | 61.3°F | Good |
| Upper Madison (Hebgen Dam to Ennis Lake) | 1,010 CFS | 58.1°F | Excellent |
| Lower Madison (Ennis Dam to Three Forks) | 1,280 CFS | 68.2°F | Good |

## West Yellowstone (Yellowstone Park to Hebgen Lake)

USGS gauge 06037500 (West Yellowstone): 329 CFS, 61.3°F. Clarity: Good.

Let's get the big one out of the way first. The Madison inside Yellowstone Park is closed to fishing, full stop, and it has been since July 15 when the Park Service shut down the Madison, the Firehole, and the Gibbon below Norris Campground over warm water and low flows. On August 12 the park lifted the 2 PM hoot owl restrictions that had covered the rest of the park's rivers, but those three full closures were a separate order and they're still in effect until conditions improve. So Madison Junction, Nine Mile Hole, the Fifty Mile Riffle, all of it, off limits today. Don't burn a park entrance fee planning to fish it.

The gauge tells you why. We're reading 392 cfs and 61.9 degrees at 5:30 this morning near West Yellowstone, and that's as cold as this river gets all day. By mid afternoon it'll be pushing 70 or better. The Firehole pours geothermal water into this system, which is why the park Madison fishes great in May and October and turns into bathwater every August. This closure is the right call and honestly, even without it I'd tell you to skip this water for another five or six weeks.

Below the park boundary at the West Entrance, on the Montana side, the river from the boundary down to Hebgen Lake is under an FWP hoot owl, closed from 2 PM to midnight. That's the Baker's Hole water. It's legally fishable at first light, and a few fish will eat a hopper or an ant against the grass banks before the sun gets on the water, but you've got maybe a three hour window before it's not worth stressing fish that are already living on the edge. Handle anything you catch fast and keep it wet.

Worth knowing the season structure here, because it changed and old info floating around is flat wrong. The Madison from the Montana-Wyoming state line downstream to the park boundary near the West Entrance is open year-round. That's the Baker's Hole and Barns Pools water, and it's where the [fall run](https://madisonriverfishing.com/fishing-seasons/#fall) happens, so no, the run does not end when the park season closes. Above that, from Madison Junction down to the state line, the water follows the park general season, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through October 31. If you read somewhere that the park closes the first Sunday in November, that's an obsolete rule.

Two more things that get people cited. This water, along with the Firehole and the Gibbon below Gibbon Falls, is fly fishing only. Artificial lures are prohibited, not just restricted, and hooks must be barbless. And inside the park you need a Yellowstone National Park fishing permit. Your Montana license means nothing past the entrance gate. Check [the regulations page](https://madisonriverfishing.com/regulations/) before you go because park rules and state rules are two different animals.

The real story on this reach starts in late September when run-up browns and rainbows start pushing out of Hebgen into the Barns Pools and Baker's Hole. That's the fishery here, and it's coming. Today, drive past it. [The Upper](https://madisonriverfishing.com/upper-madison-fishing-report/) is where you want to be.

### Tactics for today

If you insist on fishing the Baker's Hole stretch at dawn, keep it simple. Slap a hopper tight to the undercut grass banks and give it a twitch, then follow up through the same water with a soft hackle swung on a down-and-across cast. Fish it like you've got two hours, because you do. Long leader, 4X, and move quickly between spots rather than pounding one run. Save your serious effort for six weeks from now when the [run fish](https://madisonriverfishing.com/fishing-seasons/#fall) show up, and start tying streamers and soft hackle sculpin patterns now so you're ready.

### Recommended patterns

- Morrish Hopper #10-12
- Cinnamon Flying Ant #14-16
- Zebra Midge #16-18
- Pheasant Tail #16-18
- Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle #14-16

Full page: https://madisonriverfishing.com/west-yellowstone-fishing-report/

## Upper Madison (Hebgen Dam to Ennis Lake)

USGS gauge 06038800 (Kirby): 1,010 CFS, 58.1°F. Clarity: Excellent.

The Upper is carrying the whole valley right now. Kirby is reading 976 cfs and 58.8 degrees this morning, and with Hebgen sitting at full pool after the wet stretch earlier this summer, the dam releases have been steady and healthy. That consistency matters in mid August. While the Lower cooks and the park water sits closed, this reach stays cold enough to fish responsibly through the morning from top to bottom, and all day up high near the lakes.

One restriction to plan around. FWP has hoot owl in place from Eight Mile FAS down to Ennis Lake, closed 2 PM to midnight. Above Eight Mile there's no restriction, but I'd still treat this as a morning fishery everywhere below Varney once the sun gets high. The fish tell you the same thing the thermometer does. Bite's strong from first light until about noon, then it gets grindy.

It's [terrestrial season](https://madisonriverfishing.com/fishing-seasons/#summer-terrestrials), proper. Hoppers are thick in the grass from Lyons Bridge down through Varney, and the fish have been on them for a couple weeks now, long enough that they've seen some foam. The ant fishing has actually been better than the hopper fishing on the flat calm mornings. A #16 cinnamon flying ant in the soft water behind rocks has been my most consistent dry. Beetles are worth a shot on the banks too. Up between the lakes and around Raynolds, spruce moths have been fluttering in the mornings and fish are on them, a tan Elk Hair Caddis covers that fine. There's still evening [caddis](https://madisonriverfishing.com/hatch-chart/#caddis-sculpin) activity in the slick tailouts near the lakes for anyone fishing the upper end late, since no hoot owl applies up there.

Subsurface is where the numbers are, no surprise for August. Double nymph rigs worked through the seams and riffle corners have been putting up steady fish all week. A Pat's Rubber Legs up front is still earning its keep, the fish remember the [stonefly](https://madisonriverfishing.com/hatch-chart/#golden-stones) buffet from June, and a smaller beadhead behind it, a $3 Dip or a Perdigon, cleans up. The fish are podded in the faster oxygenated water right now. Riffles, riffle corners, and the choppy seams. The slow frog water is empty, don't waste drifts on it.

Crowds are what you'd expect for mid August. The wade water at [Three Dollar Bridge and Raynolds](https://madisonriverfishing.com/access-points/#upper-madison) fills up by 9, and the boat ramps at Lyons and Varney are busy. Get to the ramp early, not just for parking but because the first boat through a run in the morning catches the fish that haven't been shown six hoppers already. Floats from Lyons to Palisades or Varney to Eight Mile have been the ticket, timed to finish right around when the fishing tapers anyway.

Clarity is excellent everywhere. No tributary issues, no whitefish-gray tinge, just clean cold water. This is about as good as mid August gets on the Madison, and given what's happening on the other two reaches, be grateful for it.

### Tactics for today

Fish the hopper on 3X tight to the bank, and I mean tight, a foot off the grass, not six. Give it one twitch after it lands, then let it ride. If you get refusals, drop down to the ant on 4X and fish it dead drift in the same lane. Nymphing, run the rubber legs and dropper under an indicator set about five feet deep, dead drift it through the gut of the riffle, then let it swing out at the tailout before you recast. That swing eats more fish than people think. Wade anglers should hit the pocket water above Raynolds at first light before the parade arrives, and pick pockets with a single hopper rather than dredging. If you want dry fly fishing after lunch, drive up between the lakes where the water stays coldest and the spruce moths keep fish looking up.

### Recommended patterns

- Morrish Hopper #8-12
- Cinnamon Flying Ant #14-16
- Pat's Rubber Legs #8, coffee or black
- $3 Dip #16-18
- Tan Elk Hair Caddis #12-14

Full page: https://madisonriverfishing.com/upper-madison-fishing-report/

## Lower Madison (Ennis Dam to Three Forks)

USGS gauge 06041000 (McAllister): 1,280 CFS, 68.2°F. Clarity: Good.

I'm not going to sugarcoat this one. The gauge below Ennis Dam read 1220 cfs and 68.4 degrees at 5 o'clock this morning. That's the overnight low. By 3 PM this water will be 74, 75 degrees, and trout hooked at those temperatures die, even the ones that swim away looking fine. This is the Lower's annual mid-July through mid-September problem, and this year is no exception. Ennis Lake sits shallow and wide and works like a solar panel, and the dam sends that warm surface water straight down the canyon. There's no cold bottom-release relief here like the Upper gets from Hebgen.

Technically there's a legal morning window under the restrictions, and yes, the first hour or two after sunrise the water is at its coolest. But cool is relative, and 68 at dawn is my personal line for walking away entirely. I fished this reach at first light early last week and the fish that ate were sluggish, took forever to revive, and I quit by 8 with a bad taste in my mouth. I haven't been back and I'm not sending clients there. There are years when the Lower holds 64, 65 at dawn in August and a sunrise crayfish bite is defensible. This isn't one of those weeks.

Bear Trap Canyon is marginally better water on paper, deeper slots, more shade, faster current keeping oxygen up. But it's fed by the same warm outflow, and the hike-in nature of the canyon means longer fight times and longer walks with no way to end your day early when temps spike. Same verdict. Below the canyon, from Warm Springs down through [Black's Ford and Grey Cliff](https://madisonriverfishing.com/access-points/#lower-madison), the river is running its usual summer routine of thick weed beds, recreational floaters by the hundreds, and trout tucked into whatever springs and deep buckets they can find. Those spring seeps are exactly the water you should NOT target right now. That's the fish's only refuge, and pulling them off it is picking on animals that are already stressed.

Clarity itself is fine, actually good, this reach runs clear in August, the weed growth filters it, and 1220 cfs is a normal, floatable flow. None of that changes the math on temperature. Good-looking water that's too warm is still too warm.

What comes next is worth waiting for. The Lower flips the switch sometime in mid to late September when nights get cold, and the [fall Baetis](https://madisonriverfishing.com/hatch-chart/#blue-winged-olives) fishing here can be some of the best technical dry fly work in the valley. The crayfish bite picks back up, streamer fishing gets honest in October, and the crowds evaporate with the tubers. Check the [flow and temp data](https://madisonriverfishing.com/how-to-read-flow-data/) yourself before your first trip back. When you see dawn readings holding in the low 60s, that's the green light.

Today, drive the extra 40 minutes. [The Upper](https://madisonriverfishing.com/upper-madison-fishing-report/) is 58 degrees, running clear, and the fish are eating hoppers. There's no argument for fishing here instead.

### Tactics for today

The only tip that matters today is don't fish it. If you're set on the general area, float the Upper in the morning or take the dogs for a hike in Bear Trap and leave the rod in the truck. Use the downtime to restock the fall box, because the September crayfish and Baetis window comes fast and the first cool week will fish very well before word gets out.

### Recommended patterns

- Clouser Crayfish #6-8 (for September, not today)
- Blue Winged Olive Sparkle Dun #18-20 (fall prep)
- Morrish Hopper #8-10 (fall prep)
- Zonker, natural #6 (October streamer box)

Full page: https://madisonriverfishing.com/lower-madison-fishing-report/

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Source: Madison River Fishing Reports (https://madisonriverfishing.com/). When citing, please link the reach page or https://madisonriverfishing.com/ and include the report date above — conditions change twice daily.
Live gauges: https://madisonriverfishing.com/river-conditions/ · Site index for agents: https://madisonriverfishing.com/llms.txt