Madison River 2012 at Valley Garden – Ennis, Montana

Today was a banner day at Valley Garden on the Madison River near Jeffers and Ennis.
Even though we got a late start, the brown trout didn’t seem to mind. It was a 90° Montana scorcher in the midday. Fished 2 1/2 hours using Zugg bugs & lightning bugs.
Caught a nice 18-20″, one 12-14″ & three 8-10″. Of course all were released without harm.
Check out the picture of the nasty Madison beaver.

More to come

Gone fly fishing,
EARTHangler

Madison River 2011 – Ennis, Montana

August 6th-13th, 2011
Again, the annual Montana Fly Fishing trip.
We set up a float trip on the Madison River with Joe Dilschneider of Montana Trout Stalkers & guides Jim Morrison & Chris Knott. They are the best guides & always make it a very productive day on the water even when other boats are having a rough go of it. Try to set up your Madison float with Joe and his folks early in your trip to pick up on any tips that can be useful on your own.

Day 1: Saturday – Drove non-stop to Ennis, Montana and checked in to our favorite place – the El Western, again.
Day 2: Sunday – After changing a flat tire on the truck, we fished The Madison River at Valley Garden. Great water this year with nice pools in the channels and inlets. Caught & released unharmed several small rainbow trout & a couple medium browns. Best bet was the Caddis. Also trailed an ant & lightning bugs behind stoneflys, girddle bugs & whooly buggers with some success.
Day 3: Monday – Floated a full day on the Madison with Montana Trout Stalkers & Joe. Dropped in 3 boats at Storey Ditch and pulled out near Burnt Tree. It wasn’t the greatest day for big fish, but still quite productive right up to the last cast. A couple guys in the group caught a few 22-24″ fatties. Spent most of the day trailing nymphs and lightning bugs behind stoneflys. We even tried double bunnies, zonkers & streamers without much luck.
Day 4: Tuesday – Day started a bit slow, so we just fished Ennis Lake & Bear Trap Canyon.
Day 5: Wednesday – Fished the Upper Ruby River. Read more about fly fishing the Ruby River here.
Day 6: Thursday – Midday we hiked & fished a small alpine lake off North Meadow Creek Road. Beautiful area, but don’t waste your time if your looking for fish. I think the whole place was nothing but a feeder and watering hole for cattle. After dinner at the Taqueria Las Palmitas we headed to the the trout farm, Bear Trap Canyon. Nice evening with plenty of action. Caught 2 rainbow & 1 brown on Elk Hair Caddis & a Prince Nymph trailing a brown Stonefly bug.
Day 7: Friday – Checked out of El Western & headed to Yellowstone Park. We stopped on the way to let the kids play in Quake Lake. The 83deg weather and breeze would have been great if it weren’t for the massive infestation of horse flies. We toughed it out for a hour or so before driving to West Yellowstone for some supplies to fish the Yellowstone River. First stop was my favorite place to buy fishing stuff in West Yellowstone, Madison River Outfitters. Second stop was the famous Bud Lilly’s Fly Shop. I buy flies at Bud Lilly’s because they are always helpful & the fly fishing report whiteboard always seems to be accurate and up to date. After getting the required Yellowstone National Park Fishing Permit ($15 for 3-day) and flies we headed to Old Faithful.

Day 8: Saturday – Yellowstone Park, Firehole River, & the Madison River. Read more about fly fishing the Firelhole River, the Madison & Yellowstone..
Day 9: Sunday – Head west…home.

Ruby River – Alder, Montana

Each year on our annual Montana fly fishing trip, we fish the lower Ruby River below the reservoir. This year I had a local in an Ennis fly shop tell me about his secret spot. “Just go to the red barn, ’bout 20 miles past the reservoir, park on other side of road and have at it.” Well, he was right. Great fishing and great water. The problem was the outfitters that had staked out the river at the bridge near the barn. Essentially, they told us they pay a rod fee there and that we were breaking the Montana Stream Access Law by accessing the water next to the bridge. I understand the need to protect the interest of their clients, but when we accessed the water from a public bridge on a public roadway I believe we were in the right and should’ve stayed the course.

Bridge Access
House Bill 190 , passed during the 2009 Legislative Session, confirmed that the public has access to surface waters by public bridge or county road right-of-way. The Department, in cooperation with the affected landowner and county, is responsible for providing public passage around or through a fence preventing such access. A typical access feature would be a stile, gate, roller, walkover, or wooden rail fence.

At any rate, being seven of us, it took a while to gather the dispersed troops. In the brief time hunting down the troops I managed to hook up 2 beautiful Rainbows in about 8 casts. Nice. The old man in the shop was right…this area kills. Anyways, to keep peace we all decided to go up river about 5 miles to Cottonwood Campground. This far up the river starts to get a little small and access is more difficult but entirely public. Fishing was less productive and all fish seen were in the 6″-12″ range. Not ideal

Time: 9am-10am, 10-12pm
Fish: Rainbows, Cutthroats, Grayling, Brown (Lower)
Flies: Bead Head Prince Nymph, Elk Hair Caddis, Dunn, Stoneflys
Water: Clear
GPS: 45.520278, -112.340278
Rating(s): Red Barn – 4 Star, Cottonwood Campground- 2 Star

Madison River 2010 – Ennis, Montana

Time: August 6th-14th, 2010

Brought the families with us this time to the Madison River Valley in Ennis, Montana. It worked out very well. We still had enough of the usual antics and everyone enjoyed themselves. The general area has a wide variety of activities to keep everyone entertained while out on the river. Be sure to check out Virginia City, West Yellowstone, and Bozeman.

When fishing in Montana, we always plan ahead & set up a float trip on the Madison River. Our guides of choice are Montana Trout Stalkers. They are simply the best guides I have ever dealt with. Joe Dilschneider has always been very accommodating and has always made it a very productive day on the water. We haven’t fished with all of the Trout Stalker guides, but if the rest are as good as Joe and Chris Knott, well then your in for a great day. There have been many times over the years when it was “like shooting fish in a barrel”. They are very professional, very enthusiastic, always prepared for anything, fun, and….good at what they do. Highly recommended.
We always try to set up the Madison float with Joe and his folks earlier in the week in an effort to learn and pick up on any tips that will be useful on our own during the rest of the trip….always a good idea to learn early from the pros.

Weather was great, and kids caught their first fish….both rainbows on the Lower Madison River in Bear trap canyon.

Day 1: Friday – Drove to Spokane, stayed at the Red Lion.
Day 2: Saturday – Drove to REI in Missoula to pick up a bike for the wife, then on to the El Western, again.
Day 3: Sunday – Fish, release, Fish, release, BBQ, Fish, release – Sunday was a day for all the rookies to acclimate themselves to the area, so most of the fishing was done around the Ennis Bridge and Valley Garden.
Day 4-6: Fish, Fish, more fish, Float the Madison with Montana Trout Stalkers, adventure, pan for gold, fish, fish, fish
Day 7: Friday – Drove to Spokane, stayed at the other Red Lion….much better.