Yellowstone Park, June 22nd, 2021

Shoshone and Lewis Lakes and the the river channel between are open and producing. The best strategy for fishing the meadow parts of the channel is through presenting streamer patterns. Browns are the main trout here with some juvenile lake trout, and a very rare brookie. A few giant and golden stone flies are emerging from the channel’s upstream waters and will attract resident trout. Towards the end of the month and the first of July green drakes will emerge from the channel’s meadow area and also from the Lewis River in the meadow below Lewis Lake. It is tough to catch fish from the Shoshone Lake shoreline through casting almost any fly pattern. Streamers and leech patterns can work, but a good day would be hooking up with one or two fish, and doing the same from the Yellowstone Lake shoreline produces similar results as its cutthroat trout population is in a recovery mode and lake rout move to depth. By far the best way to have great fishing in Shoshone Lake is to pack a flotation device down the DeLacey Creek Trail and launch into the lake to find weed beds. Fishing from a hard-sided boat portaged through the channel also works. Juvenile lake trout and brown trout to trophy size hang around weed beds to forage leeches and scuds. The weed beds are in relatively shallow water and usually visible as dark patches in the lighter colored bottom. A full sink line is best for presenting patterns of these.

Other waters in the park are beginning to offer good fishing. Fall River Basin streams are in dry fly condition, but because of low snowfall in our previous winter will drop to base level and warm very soon. The same will happen with Lamar River drainage streams in the Park’s northeast corner. The Firehole River is beginning to warm to levels where trout will become less responsive to fly fishing. Gibbon River below the Falls produces with small streamer patterns and caddis fly and PMD life cycle patterns.The Madison River below has fish responding to PMD and caddis fly life cycle patterns. Streamer fishing is becoming less effective here as most spring spawning rainbows have returned to Hebgen Lake.