The Madison River is broken down into roughly 3 sections; the Madison within Yellowstone National Park, the Upper Madison and the Lower Madison. A special permit is required to guide within Yellowstone National Park and thus we only guide on those sections of the Madison outside the boundaries of the park.
The Upper Madison is Located 65 miles southwest of Bozeman. It runs from Yellowstone National Park to Ennis Lake along Montana Hwy 287. The Upper Madison is famous for its long sections of shallow, riffle water (hence it’s nickname “the 50 mile riffle”). This section of the river supports good populations of wild rainbow and brown Trout. Having made a remarkable recovery since the mid-90s at the height of the Whirling Disease outbreak. The Upper is best fished from a boat, but there are a number of sections located up and down the river, particularly near the town of Ennis, where wade fishing can be very productive.

The Lower Madison, located just 20 miles west of Bozeman, can provide some of the best action of action for big wild Brown trout during the fall, winter, and spring. The rivers productivity comes from its extensive weed beds full of Sculpins, crawfish and various aquatic insects which in turn can lead to some fantastic fishing, when conditions are right. We rarely fish this section of the Madison during the summer due to high water temps.