![]() ![]() Also includes views of a wildlife viewing area across Beaver. The remains of several cabins can been seen where they were deposited up river from where they were originally built. This section of the Madison River is truly beautiful and it defines the allure of SW Montana with the jagged Madison Range to the East and rolling Tobacco Roots to the west. The hike includes views from above the upper point of Earthquake Lake, where people took refuge from rising water caused by a massive rockslide that damned the river, caused by a 7.3 Mag earthquake on August 17, 1959. The hardest part about fishing from the drift boat though is forgetting to take a break to admire your surroundings because the buckets keep coming one after the other. This is why we consider the Madison River to be best fished from a drift boat. This can make wade fishing quite difficult thanks to the abundance football sized boulders found in the river. The Henry’s Lake Mountains, sometimes called the Lionhead Mountains, are located at the far eastern edge of the Idaho/Montana border, just west of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.They form the southern end of the Madison Range and they are nestled in a highly mountainous area of the Greater Yellowstone Rockies. Buckets and runs can exist anywhere along the river and are not confined to just the banks. Our trout love to hang around these for a break from the current and a great place to feed. Larger sized boulders will have a plunge pool behind it that will create a depression that can vary in size from a couple feet to 10 feet across. The most common trout holding feature you’ll come across though is what we call a “bucket”. Here you will find large glacial erratics in the middle of the river, classic riffle-run scenarios, gravel bar drop offs, undercut banks, tree jams, flats and more. ![]() This scenic section is good representation of what it means to float and fish the upper Madison River. Late winter and early spring tend to offer some of the best dry fly fishing of the year though when adult midges and blue winged olives come off. Its surreal being there, and hard to believe I escaped alive, and yet I am drawn there to honor the victims. Every time I come around the bend and see the massive slide my stomach starts hurting. I was back to visit the quake Visitor Center on August 15th for a book signing. Nymph fishing is a very productive method year round in this area. I am a survivor of the 1959 earthquake at Hebgen Lake. The good thing about this rough water is that it forces fish to sit in obvious places, often behind logs and boulders. Instead, anglers can access calmer water near Kelly Galloup’s Fly Shop or at Reynolds Bridge. Truly though, you’re probably better off not going down there. The best way to get to grips with the enormity of the Hebgen earthquake, the largest ever to hit the Rockies, is to visit this center, at the end of Quake Lake. While we cannot express enough caution when fishing here, the fishing is usually quite productive, especially with stonefly and terrestrial imitations. The boulder strewn section of class V rapids directly below Quake Lake’s natural outflow is quite possibly the most dangerous place you can wade fish on the Madison. This turbulent piece of water is called “The Slide” and is appropriately named after a deadly earthquake in 1959 triggered a massive landslide that sadly took the lives of 28 people. This is where the upper Madison River starts and from here runs over 50 miles north to Ennis Lake.
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