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.

Madison River 2008 – Ennis, Montana

Date: June 15-22, 2008
Fished the Madison River at Bear Trap Canyon, Quake Lake, Slide Area, Three Dollar, and Burnt Tree. We also fly fished the Ruby River.

Madison River 2007 – Ennis, Montana

The fly fishing on the Madison River in Montana was good in 2007….real good. We also fished West Yellowstone & the Ruby River.

Madison River 2006 – Ennis, Montana

Fly Fishing in Ennis, Montana was good….real good. Updates forthcoming as soon as I find my notes and pictures.

-gone fly fishing,
EARTHangler

Madison River 2005 – Ennis, Montana

For the annual Ennis, Montana fly fishing trip this year the boys decided to scrap the motor homes for a real bed. We decided on the El Western. As usual the fishing was great…still looking for those photos.

-gone fly fishing,
EARTHangler

Madison River 2004 – Ennis, Montana

The Madison River, Ennis, Montana

June, 2004
Last year we learned a lot about. This year we got it all figured out…..flawless.
We rented TWO 28′ motorhomes for the six of us. That’s right, we expanded…we initiated a couple newbies to the club.

Apparently, there were a few more lessons to be learned….like, how to hard wire the lights and windshield wipers on your motorhome during a torrential downpour, & how to bottom out a motorhome at the local drift boat launch.

If memory serves correctly, this year we golfed Old Works again….there was a bet to be paid.

What can i say…it was another rousing success.

Madison River 2003 – Ennis, Montana

The Madison River – Ennis, Montana
The first of many annual fly fishing trips. A buddy recommended we go to Montana to fly fish. When younger, he used to fish the Madison at Valley Garden and Varney Bridge with his father and grandpa. The rest of us thought that sounded great….so, it began.

We rented a 34′ motor home for the four of us.
There were a lot of lessons to be learned….like, how to empty the waste water. How to park just right along the river so that the wind rips the awning off. How to bottom out a motor home. How to camp in the local drift boat drop in site…not recommended.

We made it a golf and fishing trip.
Day 1: Drive, camp in the Walmart parking lot in Spokane
Day 2: Drive, play a round of golf at Old Works. Finish drive to Ennis, MT.
Day 3: Woke up and realized we had camped in the boat launch/drop in near Varney Bridge. A few unhappy locals were eyeballing us. We fished up and down all day…we caught quite a few Brown trout and some whiteys. Wind was fierce….while we all eagerly hunted fish, we forgot to wind in the awning….oops, it got ripped right off the house. Thank god we bought the insurance. We taped it up and rolled on.
Day 4: Moved the house to Valley Garden. Seemed safer than getting shot at by the angry boaters and guides.
Day 5-6. Fished, fished, fished. more fish. We caught a lot of Rainbow, Brown, and a few Whitefish. whitefish a re less plentiful down near Valley Garden. One of the crew had a date with Bullwinlke….yep, got chased out of a channel by a full blown bull moose. He was pissed. Great fun.
Day 7: Head to Coeur d’Alene …nothing good ever happens here. But, it always is a out of control good time with many stories to not tell. You had to be there.
Day 8: Home, way too soon.