Yellowstone River Fly Fishing Trips

Fly Fishing the Yellowstone River

In many ways the Yellowstone River is the classic Montana fly fishing river. The Yellowstone is big, broad, and loaded with wild trout. The river is host to a variety of species of fish. Anglers can expect a mixed bag of rainbow trout, brown trout, and native cutthroat trout. The Yellowstone is famous for its dense hatches of caddisflies, mayflies, stoneflies, and terrestrials that all provide for excellent dry fly fishing from March through November.

Floating is the preferred means to access the Yellowstone River for our Montana fly fishing guides. Opportunities for wade fly fishing are plenty on the many inside bends, gravel bars, and islands, one flows are at safe levels, but covering large stretches of water is the best way to maximize the fly fishing and scenery. In Yellowstone National Park our guides lead hikes into the remote reaches of the Black Canyon as well as more accessible wade fly fishing near the mouth of Yellowstone Lake.

Due to its length, there is a wide variety of fly fishing to be had on the Yellowstone and tactics to employ. Dry fly fishing, nymphing, and streamer fly fishing can all be effective and anglers can expect to use all methods over the course of a Montana fly fishing season. The combination of dense hatches and eager trout make the Yellowstone River of Montana’s premier rivers for dry fly fishing. The annual salmonfly hatch and hopper-season generally give anglers the best opportunities at catching truly trophy-sized trout with dry flies. Streamer fly fishing is most effective early in the Spring and again in the Fall when the large, predatory brown trout become aggressive.