Madison River

This famous Montana river is renowned for its stunning scenery and world-class trout fishing. At Henry’s Fork Anglers, we have been guiding on this iconic river since 1974, even before we opened our shop. It begins in Yellowstone National Park at the confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon rivers, a spot known as Madison Junction. It flows roughly 183 miles through Wyoming and Montana, eventually joining the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers at Three Forks, Montana, to form the Missouri River. Some of our guides refer to the Madison as the longest riffle in the world because it lacks the diversity of river environments of most of the other water in our region. Most of the water from Hebgen Lake downstream to Lyon’s Bridge is not open to fishing from a boat. Even though we can float all the way downstream to the town of Ennis, our guides usually float the section between Lyon’s Bridge and McAtee Bridge.  

The river is impacted by a major earthquake in 1959 that caused a landslide that formed Earthquake Lake. There are lots of great wade-fishing options including the section between Hebgen Dam and Quake Lake and from Quake Lake down to Lyon’s Bridge. The most popular float fishing section is from Lyon’s Bridge down to Palisades Campground.  

The Madison is one of the busiest rivers in Montana for good reason. The access is good, the river is easy to navigate, there are great hatches of aquatic and terrestrial insects, and it’s loaded with good sized Rainbow and Brown Trout. If you don’t like crowds, you won’t like the Madison in the peak of the season, July through September. Even though it’s crowded, the fishing is very consistent providing great fishing for beginners and experienced anglers alike.