PEAX Equipment

Proposed limits on fishing guides on the Madison River

There seemed to be a lot of folks fishing it last fall, I can only imagine what it would look like in the summer. That article doesn’t address how FWP will enforce the proposed rules. Seems like a tough decision.

Thanks for sharing, I hope all is well
 
I'm all for it and wish they would do something with the Missouri River, but I highly doubt that will happen in my lifetime.
 
Addicting said:
There seemed to be a lot of folks fishing it last fall, I can only imagine what it would look like in the summer. That article doesn’t address how FWP will enforce the proposed rules. Seems like a tough decision.

Thanks for sharing, I hope all is well
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FWP already does a really good job with checkpoints at the boat ramps. I'm sure that would be a big part of the enforcement. And I don't think any guide or outfitter would want to jeopardize their lively hood by having their license taken away.

All is well here, just wish it would stop snowing. Is it warming up yet in Michigan?
 
I don’t believe the guides and outfitters have hurt the fishing. The Madison fished well almost all the time, and the guides give some people the opportunity to fish some epic hatches that may otherwise not be an option.

As far as the MO goes.....some of the greatest BWO and Trico hatches I’ve ever seen are on the MO. It gets fished hard and the fish are very smart, but I believe that adds to the challenge. There was a recent article in the Helena IR about the condition of the MO and it was very positive. I don’t mind competing with a few guides...if they weren’t around Craig wouldn’t exist.
 
If they are going to limit guide boats, they may need to limit private boats as well? Fishing the Madison anymore is like combat fishing in Alaska. You either accept it for what it has become or go somewhere else.

Maybe they should think about restricting days guides can fish, vs permits? Those permits will become quite valuable. Here in AK the Kenai has no-guide Monday and Tuesdays, and also have time limits 6am-6pm the rest of the week. The river has a ton of local traffic as well, but it is almost dead on Mondays and Tuesdays.
 
Bambistew said:
If they are going to limit guide boats, they may need to limit private boats as well?
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No, guides & NRs should be restricted only. Like the Beaverhead & Big Hole. This is both reasonable & justified. DIY Residents should come first. The upper Big Horn needs this more than any other MT River right now.
 
I know this is already the case on the Beaverhead and I love the restrictions they put there. I really do wish they would do the same thing on the Missouri between Holter Dam and Cascade. No guides/non residents on two days during the week isn't going to kill anyone off, and would give the fish a little break in otherwise relentless pressure. For that matter, I wish they would implement no guides/non rresidents on two weekdays on all the major trout rivers in Montana.
 
I haven't seen nearly the stress below greycliff as I have on the section from warm springs to greycliff. I feel like a lot of guides make their living on this section of river, and there is often a limit on times that fishing is aloud on the lower Madison in the heat of summer to limit the stress on fish. Heck, I think the boozers put more stress on the fish than the anglers, but that's just my $.02.
 
Every time I have fished the Madison I have been bombarded with boats. As a DIY wader, I would be in favor of some limitations there. Will it disperse the pressure or simply decrease revenue? I'm not sure.
 
it would really suck for the Livingston guides that head to the Madison when the Yellowstone is off color. Unfortunately, most of the public will see this one way, while the guides making their entire livelihood in 3-4 months are going to see it very differently. Personally I feel as though making more stretches fishing from outside the boat only would rectify much of the traffic issues. I just hope it doesn’t put even more boats on the Mo and Yellowstone because of this, not to mention the other nearby rivers that rarely get fished by guides.
 
Bambistew said:
If they are going to limit guide boats, they may need to limit private boats as well? Fishing the Madison anymore is like combat fishing in Alaska. You either accept it for what it has become or go somewhere else.

Maybe they should think about restricting days guides can fish, vs permits? Those permits will become quite valuable. Here in AK the Kenai has no-guide Monday and Tuesdays, and also have time limits 6am-6pm the rest of the week. The river has a ton of local traffic as well, but it is almost dead on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Click to expand...

The "days guides can fish" option sounds interesting.

My brother and I own a cabin in the southern Madison on Raynolds Pass. When driving the stretch from Sundance Bench Rd to the turn off to Highway 87, you're absolutely right it is combat fishing. In the summer on a weekday there's a fisherman every 100 yards. On weekends they give each other 50. I like to fish, but have never been drawn to the Madison to do so because fishermen seem like herd animals there. When antelope hunting on one of the few public parcels the Madison Valley has to offer a couple years ago, I was creeping along the river bank putting a stalk on some pronghorn. It was a strange feeling to be sneaking along a river bank while every few minutes a boat full of fishermen, equipped with the modern day river fisherman's garb of sunglasses and facemask, floated by blankly staring at me, like confused storm troopers.

Anything to reduce pressure seems good in my opinion.
 
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Nameless Range said:
The "days guides can fish" option sounds interesting.
I like to fish, but have never been drawn to the Madison to do so because fishermen seem like herd animals there.
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I agree. I like solitude when fishing, so I usually end up driving past the river and into the mountains to fish a small stream or lake. Plus I get to do some elk scouting that way and fishing is always secondary to elk.
 
"In the two sections of the upper river where fishing from a boat is prohibited, an outfitter would be limited to three trips per day. Those sections are from Quake Lake to Lyons Bridge and from Ennis Bridge to Ennis Lake. The new plan would also ban the use of boats and float tubes for angling in both sections altogether — meaning anglers couldn’t use a boat to access a spot for wade fishing."

This would be a real bummer. It would pretty much negate any river fishing on the lower part of the Valley Garden stretch. I can see prohibiting boats for a portion of the season, but it seems ridiculous to eliminate boats entirely from some stretches that are already difficult to access (private land on the upper stretch, and a mile row across a windy ass lake on the lower). Also, there's virtually no outfitter pressure below Greycliff - not sure what that would accomplish by banning guides there. I think if we can get a few guides down there and away from the Ennis area it would be a positive thing. There wasn't a link to a comment section on this - has it not been officially proposed/scoped yet?
 
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