Yellowstone River Reports

Ice hasn’t been too much of an issue on the Yellowstone, but the wind has been an issue much of the time.  Typical winter nymph rigs are best now, with fish rising to midges when conditions permit.  Midge larva trailed behind caddis or small stonefly nymphs has been effective.    

         You really need to find the right day when it's not too cold or windy to make it worth fishing on the Yellowstone.  Fishing usually gets much better as the weather warms up in late winter.  Slush and ice have not as much of an issue this winter.  I did get a report

The Yellowstone has been a bit more fishable this past week.  Recent warmer weather has opened up the river quite a bit although not so much that you would want to float it.  Wade fishing is an option and we’ve heard of people doing well on nymphs and maybe even a little bit of midge dry fly fishing on warm calm

          There is some shelf ice and slush starting to form on the river.  Nymphing has been ok when the wind isn't too bad.  Stonefly nymphs and midge larva have been working best.  A few fish have still been taken on streamers.  Floating and wading will become dangerous from here on out

Fishing can be good if you can find a day when the wind isn't blowing too hard.  Nymphing is usually the best bet going into winter.  Get down deep with stonefly, mayfly or caddis imitations.  Streamer fishing can still be good with the Brown trout still spawing.  Dry fly fishing has died down until late winter when midge fishing gets

We had a lot of fun on the Yellowstone yesterday.  We had a hard time deciding if we were going to go down low for browns or up high for a chance at cutties on dries.  We were wade fishing which definitely influenced our decision.  Cutthroat won out and we ended up around Yankee Jim.  Fish were up on midges for

             Fishing has been mostly good over on the Yellowstone.  Some browns are spawning in the river, but the most have moved up into the feeder tributaries.  Baetis hatches have been good with plenty of rainbows eating them on the surface.  Nymphing has been reliable and the whitefish bite has slowed

            Fishing has been good over the last week on the Yellowstone.  Fish are now eating streamers much more than just a couple of weeks ago.  Tan and olive colors have been most reliable with white streamers also catching some fish.  Baetis hatches have been bringing fish to the surface.  Dropping

We had some of our boys on Yellowstone up in the Paradise Valley yesterday. Fishing wasn’t very good for them. Even the Whitey bite was slow. The temps did dip down low the night before, which may or may not have attributed to the slow fishing. It was a chilly 28°F when they put on in the morning. It’s really

Well it looks like fall maybe here for a little while now and hopefully the fish will respond. Look for fish to start eating streamers more now that we're seeing some clouds and cooler weather. Small atttractor dries near the banks will find their share of small fish on the banks and nymphing will bring plenty of whitefish to the net with some trout

The Yellowstone above town has been fishing pretty well.  Cooler days have been better; on the warmer days the fishing has been slowing down in the afternoon.  Small attractor dries and terrestrials like Parachute Adams and Purple Haze’s have been catching fish.  The cooler weather we’re supposed to get this week should make for some great fishing.

The Paradise Valley has been fishng a little better this week, especially with smaller attractor dry/dropper rigs. This is the time of year over there when you can often find some hatchign bugs, especially with periods of intermittant clouds. There are still a few fish eating hoppers in the afternoons on occassion. If you get on the water early in the day, this is

Fishing on the Stone has been a bit spotty lately. You could still try hoppers, but realistically, these colder nights will finish them off soon, so please stop asking! Stonefly nymphs are still proving to be the best option, with another rubberleg, or small beadhead dropper. Streamers time to shine is coming. Above Livingston is a Whitey fest right now, with a few trout mixed

Fishing has been slow during the morning until the water temps warm up.  The abnormally warm weather in the forecast for this weekend might make for decent afternoon hopper fishing.  Small attractor dries, ants and bwo's are taking some fish on the surface.  Dry-dropper combinations have been productive, and streamer fishing has also improved a bit.   Nymphing with stonefly-mayfly combos

Fishing on the Yellowstone has been a little more day to day.  We here good reports from one stretch of the river one day and then not so good another.  It’s still the same program with nymphs in the morning and hoppers in the afternoon; it just hasn’t been quite as good.

The river has been fishing so so the last few days. Nymphing is finding its share of whities and a few trout. Dead drifting streamers will find a few fish some days. Hopper fishing has been less consistent with intermittant periods of a good bite throughout the day. The upper river is probably the most reliable bet right now with some decent days to be

We’ve been hearing some better reports from the Yellowstone.  The hopper bite has been very good for our guys down around Big Timber.  Mornings are still usually better with a nymph rig, but there been a couple of afternoon’s that have had pretty explosive hopper bites, “Like piranhas,” according to one of our guides.  Hopefully the

Fishing’s been good on the Stone as of late. Hoppers are persisting around and below Big Timber. Stonefly nymphs are hitting pretty good just about anywhere on the Stone right now. Attractor dries remain the best choice up high if you wish to target trout and not have a whitey day. There is a low pressure system moving through tonight, so expect that

            Fishing has been good on the Yellowstone River.  Hopper fishing is good on most days, and ants and beetles trailed behind hoppers have also been effective.  Dropping a nymph behind a hopper is also working to catch some of the fish that are rejecting hoppers.  Smaller attractor dries are still catching

  Our guides have been continuing to stick to the stretches either up at the top of Paradise Valley or below Big Timber as these areas have been providing consistent dry fly fishing. Higher up the river has been better with ant, beetles, and small attractor dries for the dry fly angler. Fishing a large hopper with a small rubberleg behind it can be very

The whole river is fishing pretty well right now with attarctor dries and small hoppers working just about everywhere. We've been seeing the most consistent hopper fishing down below Livingston. There are lots golden stones out right now and fish are eating the nymphs pretty well in the faster water (but the'll also eat a hopper in the same water) in the mornings.

Fishing higher up on the river around around Yankee Jim to Emigrant has been mostly consistent with hoppers, ants and attractor dries.  The stretches from Grey Owl to Livingston has seen some serious fishing pressure which has made the fishing a bit tougher.  Below Livingston has been good with hoppers on some days and fairly tough on others.  If the hopper fishing

The upper river is starting to fish well with dries including small hoppers and a variety of attractor patterns. Wading in and around Yankee Jim canyon is not a bad option for the more adventurous angler right now. You'll find some fish eating PMD's and spinners as well, but big attractors are now starting to work really well on the cuts. Water levels

Hopper fishing was very good on the lower river today!  Dry fly fishing has been most consistent up higher in the valley with small attractors, ants, hoppers, caddis and nocturnal stones.  Nymph fishing will usually catch fish when they aren't looking at dry flies.  Try stonefly nymphs, sculpins or buggers trailed by your favorite mayfly or caddis nymph.    

There is some dry fly fishing to be had just about everywhere on the Yellowstone for right now. The upper river fish are eating a varity of attractor patterns, some hoppers, and Spruce Moth imitations. As you get closer to Livingston, smaller attractor patterns in the morning and the odd hopper eat later in the day. Fish are eating hoppers pretty well from Big Timber

The river is really coming into good shape now with viz improving quickly. Still mostly nymphing in Paradise Valley but the dries won't be but a few days away and we are getting some on attractor patterns already. Hopper fishing is starting to get very good on the lower river as of the last couple of days. You can still pick up plenty of

Fishing has been good this week on the Yellowstone River.  Stonefly nymphs along with some of the higher visibility beadhead nymphs have been most productive way to catch fish. Hopper fishing should be getting better as the water clarity improves.  Dry fly fishing is decent higher up on the river towards Gardner with attractor dries, ants and hoppers. 

Fishing has been good this week on the Yellowstone River.  Stonefly nymphs along with some of the higher visibility beadhead nymphs have been most productive way to catch fish. Hopper fishing should be getting better as the water clarity improves.  Dry fly fishing is decent higher up on the river towards Gardner with attractor dries, ants and hoppers. 

  We've been fishing the Yellowstone a lot the last week and have been hitting it well from Livingston to Reedpoint…spotty and lost of whitefish up in the valley. Fish are holding on the inside seams and corners, kind of where you would expect them to be during higher flows. They are also up in the riffles and you can raise some

  The river is slowly dropping, but it's very manageable right now for most folks that know how to row a boat. The wade fishing is still tough unless you have a boat to get from place to place. Clarity is improving to just a bit over 2' now and the fish are hungry, near the banks on inside corners and seams. There are spruce

  The river is quickly coming into shape now with 1-2 feet of viz and on the green side of dirty. Flows are dropping and are probably lower than one would expect them to be, yet high enough to keep the better water to the banks. The fish are hungry right now and eating a wide range of dead-drifted sculpins, buggers, worms, and stonefly nymphs.

Fresh reports from this morning say the Stone is green with about a foot or so of visibility in town. Rubberlegs and other stonefly nymphs right up on the bank with larger attractor nymphs off the back should be dynamite. Also heavy streamers with a few seconds to sink and some quick strips should move fish off the banks. Hoppers may be a possibility if

I’m talking to more and more people that are trying various floats on the Stone. Fishing still isn’t good over there, unless you can get right on the banks with stonefly nymphs, but expect to lose plenty of flies. Flows are barely above 9,000cfs right now, which is usually when we start thinking about fishing the stone, but 7,000cfs, or just

We’ve talked to a couple of more people who have actually caught fish on the Yellowstone; some of them were even trout.  The river is still high and dirty, but it is “fishable” in the sense that you can go there and have a good chance of catching a fish, especially above Livingston.  Most of the fish taken have

The Yellowstone is almost there. Flows are at about 12,500cfs right now and continuing to drop steadily. The Stone usually doesn’t start picking up until right around 9,000cfs, which at the rate it’s dropping we should see next week, maybe. I have talked to a few people who have done the bird float and caught fish, no big number or big

Water clarity is improving with flows steadily dropping on the Yellowstone.  Floating is still quite dangerous at these levels, so only experienced oarsmen should attempt rowing it now.  Slower stretches of river will be easier and safer until the river gets down below 10,000 cfs.  Stonefly nymphs and streamers fished close to the bank will be best in high water.  Anglers will

Still dirty.

The Yellowstone has come down a lot over the past few days, but is still very high and very unfishable. The wait continues…

The last two days the Stone has peaked over 30,000cfs and today it peaked just shy of 30,000cfs. Needless to say the fishing isn't very good right now and is down right dangerous. For now the river belongs to the craziest of whitewater thrill-seekers.

The Yellowstone is still probably a mouth out, before it fishes good, or even longer. Flows are very high, the water is dirty and full of debris. In all honesty the Yellowstone shouldn’t be messed with for awhile.

The Yellowstone has doubled in size in the last few days. The river is currently running at 21,300cfs. These are dangerously high flows and fishing and boating is highly discouraged. Be safe everybody!

We’ve actually heard the cooler weather has cleared up the ‘Stone a bit and a few folks have headed out to fish it.  That’s fine if you live in Livingston and are really handy on the oar, but we have to think it isn’t the best option right now.  It will get even worse with the

We’ve actually heard the cooler weather has cleared up the ‘Stone a bit and a few folks have headed out to fish it.  That’s fine if you live in Livingston and are really handy on the oar, but we have to think it isn’t the best option right now.  It will get even worse with the

I’m guessing that the Yellowstone is going be out of action until the end of June-early July at the soonest. Right now it is high and muddy and floating would be very dangerous.

The Yellowstone is dirty and getting to a level where floating is dangerous.  It'll be a while now before it gets fishing again.     

There is lots of mud coming down the Yellowstone, but there is a chance it might clear up long enough for some caddis up in the valley.  Otherwise throw big stonefly nymphs and streamers if you really must fish it now.  The Yellowstone is going to get really big soon and it'll be a while before it gets fishing again.   

Caddis are out around Livingston, and hatches should improve with the warm weather today and tomorrow.  The Yellowstone is muddy below the Shields River and also the Creek at the Lumberyard in Livingston is pumping in some mud.   With rainy weather in the forecast it should also be good Baetis and March Brown conditions this weekend.  Nymphing with stonefly nymphs trailed by

We’ve been hearing some mixed reports from the ‘Stone but we’ve also seen some pictures of huge fish.  Our friend Dane was out the other day and only caught two fish however, one of them was a truly large, duck billed brown over 25 inches.  Congrats to Dane.  Might as well shoot the moon and go for a

The Yellowstone has been pretty dirty at least below Livingston lately, some early runoff perhaps? I did hear that further up in Paradise Valley towards Yankee Jim the Cutthroat bite has been good on stripped Buggers. I’ve also heard of some good Baetis hatches further up there too, and don’t be surprised to see some midges up that way. Other than

We’ve been hearing that the epic streamer fishing on the stone has died off when these last couple of storms rolled through. Also the flows have gone up and there have been some reports of mud starting to affect water clarity. However, if you wanted to fish the Stone you’d still have a pretty good chance of catching fish. Nymphing with,

We’ve been hearing some dynamite reports of streamer fishing on the Stone both in town and downstream to Big Timber. Haven’t heard of any ice left below town but some ramps in the Paradise Valley are still a little icy by the sounds of it, so check your ramps before you float. It’s a great time to have some

Aside from the ever present wind around Livingston, the river has been fishing well. The wind has just made for tougher conditions for obvious reasons. But if you can get over there on a cloudy day and tuck away from the breeze...there has been some great midge fishing to risers throughout the length of the river. Nymphing with small black stonefly nymphs and general

We’re hearing some reports of great fishing on the Stone.  Streamer fishing has been great, nymph fishing has been great, and more and more midges are present on the water.  Snow melt can dirty the water intermittently this time of year but the fish still eat.

Fishing has been decent over on the Yellowstone.  Streamer fishing reports are getting better, and some good size browns have been chasing them.  Midge dry fly action hasn't been great, but there has been some when the weather is cloudy and calm.  Nymphing is best with stonefly or sculpin patterns and baetis or midge nymphs. 

The ice is finally clearing out on the Yellowstone.  Of course always check for iced over boat ramps before floating, and check a wind forecast before you go.  Streamer fishing should start picking up as the weather continues to warm up.  Nymphing is going to be most productive, but midge dries will work when conditions permit.  Sculpins can work very well

The Yellowstone is starting to look a lot better but we haven’t heard too many reports due the howling winds in the area.  Even if the winds die down, please be careful floating the Yellowstone.  There is still plenty ice.  Streamer fishing should be fantastic if the warm weather continues and the winds let up a little.

It's just been windy over there. There is a lot of ice breaking free right now so plan on deal with that if you head over there. As far as floating goes, we'd advise against it unless you are positive that the entire stretch is open and you can access both boat ramps! The cold weather of last week really put some ice