Madison fishing regulations

I have a chance to stay in a nice custom cabin in Ennis,MT. and fish the Madison river for a week this fall.

Problem: I don't ?FLY fish?.

At the risk of offending dedicated fly fishers, can the Madison be fished with spinning gear ?
Spinners and small lures, do I need to converted to single hook ??
Will the local fly fishing community tar & feather me ?

I believe the Madison is catch and release only but using spinning rigs is just fine.

The locals may not tar and feather you but the G. Loomis rod crowd will look down their noses at at you. Who really cares about them though? Go for it in enjoy. It is a beautiful area.

If you are there for the annual Hunter's Feed be sure to take it in. You can try everything imaginable that comes from the field up to and including Mountain lion.


http://www.ennischamber.com/chd12pg8.asp

Nemont




My new signature:

"If I said anything to offend you it was purely intentional."

The upper Madison from Ennis Lake to Hebgen is C&R for rainbows, and most of the middle river is all C&R. Check the regs. Some parts are 5 per trout per day limit. The same stretch is artificial lures only, meaning no bait... Crank away!

I would suggest crimping barbs, or swapping out treble hooks for single siwash or similar. Panther Martins or the like work very well, #5 and #7 rainbow rapalas work very well, as to 1/8th oz. +/- black/olive marabou jigs. While its fishing, there are times when flys will outfish spin gear by a large margin, and vice versa. Late summer/early fall is fly time, otherwise its spin gear. I grew up fishing the Madison, fun place to fish. Plan to hit it this summer for the first time in nearly a decade. Hard to leave Alaska to fish in Montana for dinky fish and the crowds

As NeMont mentioned, be prepared for some wining on the river, especially if you are keeping them. Personally I like to cut a nice willow fork and string one or two up on it and walk around with them. THe terrorists get pretty worked up.

Thanks.
I'm a ?catch & release? guy (except saltwater).

I'll switch all the trebles out for siwash single hooks and file the barbs to minimum.

I'll probably buy one of those basic fly fishing combos and try it for a day, maybe take a lesson.