Fishing Reports

Yellowstone National Park, October 12th, 2024

Other than continuing Firehole River BWO and White Miller activity, it essentially “Brown Trout Season” in the park. The Lewis River System offers perhaps the biggest number of migrating browns (mostly of trophy size) in the area.  The densest concentration is in the channel between Lewis and Shoshone Lakes where fish from both lakes concentrate. Getting there early in the day to present streamer and large nymph patterns before other wading and bankside anglers disturb the fish is the best strategy. Another location where good numbers of browns concentrate is in the river just below Lewis Lake. Rather than disturbing fish in the act of spawning there, fish the outlet bay in order to intercept migrating browns. 

The Madison River drainage features a great run of browns and accompanying rainbows from Hebgen Lake, but the number of fly fishers can equal the number of fish to the point that social problems can arise. Other brown trout runs worth a visit are in the Gardner and Snake Rivers, but these peak a bit  later in the season than the Lewis and Madison runs.

Flies to try:

• Elden’s CDC BWO Emerger
• Mena’s Cousin It Streamer- Ginger
• Craven’s Dirty Hippy-Brown

Yellowstone Park, September 28th, 2024

The Firehole River continues to provide the best dry fly fishing in the Park with BWO and white miller activity and bank side terrestrial insect populations providing the reasons. Now that the northeast part of the park has drier weather, streams there are back in great shape with BWO, mahogany dun ( and some hecuba) mayflies along with hopper and ant populations making for good dry fly fishing. Much of the same applies to Fall River Basin streams which are now at base level flows making stealth necessary for top water fishing success.

Brown trout runs in the Madison River are increasing but so are the number of pursuing anglers using deep running streamer and large soft hackle patterns with success mostly early and late during the warm, sunny days. Brown trout are also staging to move into the Lewis River channel between Lewis and Shoshone lakes to provide result in the famed fall run that attracts world wide fly fishers.