Yellowstone Park

Yellowstone National Park, March 31st, 2020

Effective immediately, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are closed to all visitors until further notice.  State highways and/or roads that transcend park/state boundaries and facilities that support life safety and commerce will remain open. Both parks will cooperate on the implementation of the closures. The public will be notified when full operations will resume, and both parks will provide updates on respective websites and through social media channels.

View further details of this closure on the Yellowstone Park web site.  Hopefully this restriction will be lifted in time for the usual opening of Park general fishing season on Memorial Day Weekend.  We will keep watching the park web site for any such change, and if opening of fishing season is allowed, will post such on our web site.

Yellowstone Park 11-1-19

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2019 Yellowstone Park fishing season.

Yellowstone Park 10-26-19

Winter has arrived meaning accessing certain waters is no longer available. To see which roads are closed o the the Yellowstone Park web site and look for road closures.  Sunday, November 3rd is the last day for the 2019 park fishing  season.

Yellowstone Park 10-22-19

Winter has arrived in the park.  Snow is on the ground in most places, and daytime temperatures at or below freezing are the norm. The brown trout runs continue in the upper Lewis River, Madison River ( accompanied by rainbows), lower Gardner River and Snake River at the south entrance. There is not much time left to enjoy these events because fishing season here closes after Sunday, November 3rd.

Yellowstone Park 10-8-19

Terrestrial insects are out of the scene as a trout food.  The Firehole River offers the best top water fishing in the park, especially during unsettled weather when small BWOs emerge in good numbers. A few  small BWOs may do the same on the Madison River, but the big attraction here are run-up browns and ‘bows from Hebgen Lake. That means  presenting streamer patterns, whether they be large soft hackles (including those tied with marabou wound soft hackle style) or more traditional feather or deer hair wing versions.  The other famed brown trout run (that in Gardner and Snake Rivers yet to peak) is that in the Lewis River system where good numbers of browns are now in the channel between Shoshone and Lewis Lakes, migrating to the river just below Lewis Lake, and moving in the river below the falls. This activity means presenting large streamer patterns through deeper holes, runs, or undercuts is the best way for encounters.  It also means not disturbing redds, active or inactive, by any means.  They hold the beginnings of our future brown trout population.

Yellowstone Park 9-24-19

Thanks to colder than normal weather including some snow and killing frosts, hopper season is about to end on just about every park stream.   So if you pursue big fish, streamers or big nymphs will get best results. This applies to Lower Gibbon, Madison, Lewis, Bechler, Fall, Snake, Lamar, and upper Gardner Rivers. Other than that, good top water fishing is reduced to the Firehole River where BWO and white millers make for good daytime fishing especially during unsettled weather.

For still waters, action on Beulah Lake is slowing because of cooling water. Wait a few weeks before trying Trout Lake.  Some of the best lake fishing will be along Lewis Lake shoreline where wading to pitch streamer patterns (especially below the campground) can interest migrating browns and an occasional juvenile lake trout.  Weather and physical condition permitting, carrying a flotation device with all accoutrements down the DeLacey Creek Trail to Shoshone Lake will get you into juvenile lake trout foraging around sunken weed beds. Use a full sink line, black or olive leech patterns, and dress for the weather.

Yellowstone Park 9-17-19

Firehole River is as good as it gets for this time of year. BWOs and white millers are the reasons. Really big fish are quite rare here, but the nearby Madison River hosts an increasing number of trophy size browns and ‘bows coming up from Hebgen.  They are in the river from Madison Junction on down to Baker’s Hole, and they are best encountered when the weather is stormy or at dawn or at twilight.  The Lewis River, anywhere above the canyon, also hosts migrating browns. Either place, Madison or Lewis, streamer patterns are the best for meeting up with them.  In a few weeks there are more park waters we can recommend for migrating browns.

Yellowstone Park 9-14-19

The big attraction here is browns becoming active in migrating to spawning areas. Run-up browns  (and rainbows) from Hebgen Lake are beginning their move  into the Madison River and on to the lower Gibbon River.  In the Lewis River system browns are moving from both Shoshone and Lewis Lakes into the river between the two lakes as well as into the river just below Lewis Lake.  In total, this Lewis River system run makes the largest concentration of brown trout in park waters. Later this fall the Gardner and Snake River runs will be worth trying. Fishing during low light conditions will be the best time to encounter any of these these fish. Presenting streamers during these times is the best strategy, but large nymphs presented deep also brings results.

Yellowstone Park 9-10-19

The current cool weather means the Firehole River is worth fishing again. BWO life cycle and white miller caddis patterns offer good ways to obtain action.  So do soft hackle patterns.  Be ready for stormy conditions! Look for early in the day trico activity on most streams.  Terrestrial insect patterns will continue to work on all streams until a killing frost arrives.  Most crowded streams include the Lamar in roadside meadows, Soda Butte Creek, Slough Creek’s lowest meadow (pressure on upper two meadows is thinning), Firehole River, Madison River, and lower Gibbon River on which the upper section is closed due to ongoing native salmonid restoration project.