Ice Out, Rods Out: The Spring 2026 Report by Madison River Outfitters
April 10, 2026 by Angela Montana
The ice is packing its bags early this year, so it’s time to dust off the gear and beat the “flip.” Whether you’re eyeing the wide-open waters of Hebgen and Quake or ready to dodge some “green tea” runoff on the Upper Madison, the spring window is officially cracked. Between Al landing absolute brutes and the upcoming early access to the Firehole, there’s plenty of reason to get your boots wet before the high-water chaos of May really sets in.
Here’s the latest from Madison River Outfitters:
| Montana Hebgen & Quake Lakes: Not surprisingly, the ice is starting to come off pretty early this year. Both arms of Hebgen are now clear of the hard stuff, and the good majority of the main lake is open too! Quake is on the same page as Hebgen, with a good chunk of it being open, mostly centralized towards the outflow side. Get out there and strip some leeches and chironomids before the lakes flip! Flies We’re Fishing: #14 Black & Red Nugget, #14 O.S. Buzzer, #16 Lake Prince, #8 Black or Olive Simi-Seal Leech, #8 Black Hot Bead Leech, #8 Vegas Booby Leech, #6 Black/Olive Wooly Bugger. Madison Flows: Hebgen Lake Inflow: 778 CFS Hebgen Lake Outflow: 665 CFS Kirby Flows: 770 CFS Cameron Flows: 960 CFS Water Temp @ Kirby: High 49F Low 37F Flows as of 12PM April 9th 2026 ———————————————————————————————–  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. A bottlenosed brute out of the Upper Madison this Weekend for Connnor’s Dad Al …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Upper Madison: The 50 Mile Riffle is fishing great right now. its getting some mid-day green tea color from our early warm days but nothing too bad. Nymphing has been super solid as always, with plenty of fish coming to hand on stoneflies, small mayfly imitations, and smaller midges. The risers are there on days with no wind sipping midges ranging in sizes from 22 all the way to 18. Streamers have been getting them both stripped and swung as well. Flies We’re Fishing: #16 & #18 TBH Red Neck, #18 Olive SH Hare’s Ear, #12 & #14 Black Rubberleg Stone, #16 Firestarter, #16 Sunburst Perdigon, #20 JJ Midge, #16 Bucky’s Midge Cluster, #20 Griffith’s Gnat, #20 Parachute Adams, #8 Black Hot Bead Leech, #10 Black Jig Leech, #6 Mini Sex Dungeon Black or Olive, #8 Kreelex, #6 Copper Zonker ———————————————————————————————–  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. BENT! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. YNP Madison, Firehole, Gibbon: The Madison from the Wyoming/Montana border to its entrance into Hebgen Lake is open to fishing year round, and beginning this year, the Firehole and Gibbon will be open upon the park’s opening to wheeled vehicles – Friday April 17th. Expect water to be a bit higher and more off color than in years past with the Memorial Day opener, but there should be plenty of early hatches in there! Gallatin: The YNP section of the Gallatin will open as usual with the rest of the parks general fishing season on the Saturday of memorial day, May 23rd. The Montana stretch to big sky is fishing OK but is going to be pretty chalky and opaque downstream of the Taylor Fork. The river is still very cold but we are turning some fish almost exclusively on small nymphs. NE Corner: Everything up in the NE Corner is going to be too high & muddy to bother fishing until June or July. YNP Flows Firehole: 286 CFS Gibbon: 147 CFS Madison: 479 CFS Yellowstone Outlet: 591 CFS Gallatin: 466 CFS Lamar: 1390 CFS Soda Butte: gage is gone!  ———————————————————————————————- Get out there! |
