The Madison begins at Madison Junction, where the Firehole and the Gibbon meet, and runs about fourteen miles west through the park to Hebgen Lake. It is the least like the rest of the river of any reach: slow, weedy meadow water fed by geothermal springs, with its own permit and tackle rules, season dates that change partway down it, and the fall run every streamer angler in the region circles on the calendar.
West Yellowstone — Today's Report
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Live Data
Updated Aug 13, 7:05 AM MDT
West Yellowstone Fishing Report
Yellowstone Park to Hebgen Lake
Water Temp (West Yellowstone)63.1°F
Flow Rate (West Yellowstone)296 CFS
Water ClarityGood
The Madison inside Yellowstone Park is closed to fishing, full stop, and it has been since July 15. The Park Service shut down the Madison, the Firehole, and the Gibbon below Norris because of high water temperatures and low flows, and as of this week that closure is still in effect. The gauge near West Yellowstone read 290 cfs and 61.5 degrees at 5:30 this morning, and that's the coldest this water will be all day. By mid afternoon the Firehole's geothermal load pushes this reach into the low 70s, and a trout that eats a fly at those temperatures often doesn't survive the fight even if it swims off looking fine. The closure is the right call. On top of it, the whole park has been under hoot owl rules since July 29, no fishing from 2 pm to sunrise, so even the park streams that remain open are morning propositions right now. The state water is pinched too. Montana FWP has hoot owl restrictions on the short piece of Madison between the park boundary and Hebgen, closed 2 pm to midnight, and that water carries the same warm Firehole signature, so I wouldn't bother with it either. None of this is unusual for August. The Madison in the park runs warm every summer because a big chunk of its flow arrives pre-heated out of the Firehole's geyser basins. Most years I tell people to skip this reach from mid July into early September anyway. This year the Park Service made that decision for everybody. So why cover it at all? Because this is a fall fishery, and fall is only six weeks out. From late September through October and well beyond it, run-up browns and lake-run rainbows push out of Hebgen and stack in the water from Baker's Hole up through the Barns Pools, along Fifty Mile Riffle, into Nine Mile Hole and on toward Madison Junction. That run is the whole reason most of us fish this reach, and it's worth getting the season structure straight because it changed a few years back and stale info is still floating around online. The Madison from the Montana-Wyoming state line downstream to the park boundary near the West Entrance, which is the Baker's Hole and Barns Pools water, is open year-round. The fall run does not end when a season closes on that stretch, because that stretch never closes. Upstream of the state line, from Madison Junction down, the park general season runs from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through October 31. If you read somewhere that the park season closes the first Sunday in November, that's an obsolete rule and whoever wrote it hasn't updated their page in years. Tackle rules are strict here and they're different from Montana regulations. The Madison, the Firehole, and the Gibbon below Gibbon Falls are fly fishing only. Artificial lures are prohibited on these streams, not merely discouraged, and hooks must be barbless. You also need a Yellowstone National Park fishing permit. Your Montana license means nothing past the entrance station. As for when the closure lifts, the park says when conditions improve, and historically that means the first real stretch of cold nights, usually late August or early September. Check the NPS site before you plan anything in here.
Tactics for today
There's no legal way to fish this reach today, so the tip is simple: go elsewhere. The wade water between Quake Lake and Lyons Bridge is cold, in great shape, and thirty minutes up the road, and the Upper Madison is where I'd send every trip on the books this week. If the park water is what you're really after, use the downtime to get ready for fall. Buy your park permit, pinch the barbs on your streamer box now instead of streamside in October, and rig a six or seven weight with a short sink tip for swinging. When the closure lifts with the first cold nights, the anglers swinging soft hackles and sculpin patterns through Fifty Mile Riffle will find fish that haven't seen a fly since mid July. Watch the West Yellowstone gauge yourself too. Temperature trend matters more than flow on this reach, and our flow data guide shows exactly what to look for.
The Firehole arrives warm. Geothermal input means this reach runs several degrees above anything downstream, which is why it fishes beautifully in June and again in October and is often unfishable in between.
The water is flat, smooth and weedy. Long glides and undercut banks, none of the boulder pockets you get on the Upper. Fish see everything, so your drift and your approach matter more than your pattern.
The fall run is the reason most anglers come. From late September, browns and rainbows push up out of Hebgen Lake into the park water. The bottom of the reach stays open year-round, so that fishing carries on past the October 31 close that applies upstream.
Access
Madison Junction: The top of the reach, where the Firehole and Gibbon join.
Nine Mile Hole: Classic run, and one of the most-fished pieces of water in the park.
Seven Mile Bridge: Pullouts either side; good access to the meadow water.
Cable Car Run: Below Seven Mile, holds fall fish well.
Barns Pools: Below Cable Car Run, upstream of Baker's Hole. Traditional fall-run water.
Baker's Hole: Near the west park boundary, downstream of the Barns. Campground access, and the bottom of the reach.
Access along this reach is from pullouts on the West Entrance Road rather than formal fishing access sites. Everything is wade or walk-in, and there is no floating inside the park.
When it fishes
Year-round: state line down to the west boundary: The Madison from the Montana–Wyoming state line downstream to the park boundary near the West Entrance is open all year. This is the Baker's Hole and Barns Pools water, which is exactly where the fall run happens.
Memorial Day weekend to October 31: Madison Junction down to the state line: The upper part of the reach follows the park general season, opening the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and closing October 31.
Midsummer (July–August): Water temperature climbs well past the rest of the river. Expect closures, and expect the reach to be a dawn proposition at best when it is open at all.
Fall run (late September onward): The main event. Browns and rainbows move up from Hebgen into the lower, year-round water. Streamers and big nymphs, and it holds together well past the October 31 date that closes the upper part of the reach.
A Yellowstone National Park fishing permit is required. A Montana fishing license is not valid inside the park and is not accepted.
The Madison, the Firehole, and the Gibbon below Gibbon Falls are FLY FISHING ONLY. Artificial lures are prohibited on these streams. That is stricter than the parkwide artificial-lures rule, and stricter than Montana state regulations.
Hooks must be barbless, or the barbs pinched down.
The Park Service closes water on short notice when it gets too warm. Check current closures before you drive up.
No fishing from a boat anywhere on this reach.
Seasons differ by section within the park. Confirm dates against the NPS fishing page before you go.
Reading the gauge
Readings come from USGS gauge 06037500, Madison River near West Yellowstone, at the downstream end of the park reach. Flows here are a fraction of what the Upper and Lower carry, a few hundred CFS against roughly a thousand, because this is the river before Hebgen Lake and the tributaries below it.
When is the Madison River in Yellowstone open to fishing?
It depends on the section. The Madison from the Montana–Wyoming state line downstream to the park boundary near the West Entrance is open year-round. Above that, from Madison Junction down to the state line, the park general season applies: the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through October 31. The Park Service also closes water mid-season when temperatures get too high, which happens most summers.
Do I need a Montana license to fish the Madison in the park?
No. You need a Yellowstone National Park fishing permit; a Montana license is not valid inside the park. The tackle rules differ too. The Madison inside the park is fly fishing only, with barbless hooks, so a spinning rod that is legal below the boundary is not legal above it.
When does the fall run start on the Madison in Yellowstone?
Browns and rainbows begin moving up from Hebgen Lake in late September and the run builds through October. The lower part of this reach, state line down to the west boundary, is open year-round, so the fall fishing does not stop on October 31 the way it does on the water above the state line.
Why is the Madison so warm inside the park?
The Firehole River, one of the two forks that form the Madison at Madison Junction, drains a geyser basin and carries geothermal heat. That warmth is why the reach fishes early and late and struggles in midsummer.
