Gallatin and East Gallatin Rivers

The Gallatin and East Gallatin are both good wintertime destinations, though since they’re located near Bozeman and Big Sky, you should expect company.

Gallatin Report

Reminder: It is not legal to fish from a boat on the Gallatin from its headwaters down to the confluence with the East Gallatin west of Belgrade. You may use a boat for transportation, but must get out to fish.

Stick to the water between Big Sky and Four Corners. Downstream is awfully low and actually gets colder than the water above, since the canyon stretch is deeper and there’s some warm spring water (and warm toilet water from Big Sky and Gallatin Gateway.

A modest-sized stonefly nymph trailing a midge pupa is a good choice. Hatches are possible in the PM. BWO might still be around, but midges will dominate.

Pick an unoccupied pullout; do not share pools with others unless you’re buddies or they invite you. Stick to the slower, deeper water.

East Gallatin Report

Stick to worms, midge pupae, and BWO nymphs here. Some midge or BWO hatches are possible in the PM. It will be “pink season” here sooner rather than later.

Gallatin River Streamflow Info

The Gallatin and East Gallatin have a variety of water quality concerns:

• The Gallatin from the confluence with the West Fork near Big Sky until Gallatin Gateway often suffers intense algae blooms in late summer due to sewage and septic contamination from Big Sky, most of it from the billionaire enclave of the Yellowstone Club. If it sounds like I’m saying the ultra-wealthy with giant mountainside mansions are literally taking a $#!+ on the rest of it, yes.
• Downstream of Gallatin Gateway, temperatures on the main river rapidly increase in late summer due both to the low elevation and intensive irrigation drawdowns. 2:00 “hoot owl” closures usually begin around Four Corners west of Bozeman. These are often expanded into 24-hour closures.
• The stretch from somewhere between Four Corners and Belgrade down to the confluence with the East Gallatin is usually almost entirely dewatered in late summer and early fall. It is a poor fishery year-round because of this.
• The East Gallatin forms at the confluence of several creeks on the eastern outskirts of Bozeman, so it is a low-elevation fishery. Only a variety of small springs keep it cool enough to hold an appreciable number of trout. Even with the springs, it is common for the entire creek to be under hoot owl closures from early July through early September. Much of this water is often closed completely at this time.

Despite the issues, both the Gallatin and East Gallatin see very heavy fishing pressure due to their proximity to most of the region’s population. The least-crowded section that fishes well for wading anglers is from the YNP boundary down to Big Sky. The least-crowded section that still fishes well at all is from the East Gallatin down to Three Forks. Fish numbers aren’t high, but this is the only stretch of the Gallatin that is legal to float-fish, rather than just using the boat for transportation. Boating this water makes it much easier to shed crowds.

Watch for sudden flow spikes on the above graph. They will generally indicate muddy water coming in from the Taylor Fork, which enters the Gallatin only a couple miles north of the YNP boundary. The water upstream from the boundary generally runs clear, sometimes even during the spring melt, even when it is quite high.

Note: We update our general fishing report far more often than our fishery-specific reports like this one, especially between November and April.