Livingston Montana Fishing Report

Detailed Reports

This Livingston Montana fishing report is valid from May 11 until May 25, when Yellowstone National Park’s season opens for the year. Many of our individual report pages have also been updated.

Early May provided cold, wet weather that is now ending. The cold/wet (including up to three feet of snow in the mountains of north-central Montana, and a couple feet in our operations area) stalled the spring snowmelt and led to excellent fishing over the past couple weeks, including great caddis hatches on the Yellowstone River. Runoff has now begun, so we are shifting into our “late spring” pattern: the Lower Madison River, to a lesser extend the Boulder River, road trips to the Missouri River, and Montana lakes are now where the action is. This will remain the case until the park opens in a couple weeks, though there’s a chance of “runoff holes” in about ten days during which the Yellowstone, Gallatin, and other freestone rivers will fish for a day or two at a time with streamers and “junk bugs.”

The Yellowstone River is muddy and unlikely to fish again for more than an unpredictable day or two at a time until roughly June 15–20.

The Boulder River hangs in there longer than the Yellowstone and drops into play faster during cool spells. Streamers, San Juan Worms, stonefly and large attractor nymphs, and maybe some Mother’s Day caddis are on the menu. The Boulder is floatable by skilled oarsmen when flows are under about 3000cfs, with the best fishing under 2000. Wading is really tough until flows are under 1000.

The Stillwater River is a bit of a hybrid of the Boulder and the Yellowstone. It will go in and out until roughly June 20. The best fishable clarity will be between Nye and the mouth of the Rosebud in Absarokee. Use similar tactics as on the Boulder.

The lower Madison River will be the most consistent float river in the region for the next few weeks. Crayfish, San Juan Worms, BWO nymphs, and caddis pupae are the bread and butter flies, but March Browns, BWO, and caddis may also bring up rising fish. The best dry fly action will occur at midday and in the evening. If it’s bright and sunny, there won’t be many fish looking up at midday. The higher the water gets here without getting dirty, the better, as it pushes fish into more predictable areas such as along the banks. At lower flows, look for subtle changes in depth such as holes below weed beds, many of them right in the middle of the river.

The Paradise Valley spring creeks are now in their May-June doldrums. Sparse midge or BWO hatches are your best chances at good action. Otherwise, streamers and midge pupae will scrape up a few fish.

The Missouri River will be jam packed with anglers and guides both local and from far away, for good reason. The next month to six weeks is prime time there. Midges, BWO, March Browns, and caddis may bring up risers. If not, the nymphing with the subsurface versions of these bugs as well as sowbugs, scuds, and San Juan Worms will be very consistent. The higher and dirtier the water gets, the more you should use worms and sowbugs.

Area Lakes and Reservoirs are approaching their peak season right now and they are where we’ll be fishing over the next couple weeks when we aren’t guiding. Both the trout lakes within 90 minutes of Livingston and the warmwater options (most of which are further away) are good choices now. On the trout lakes, fish leeches and San Juan Worms, but keep an eye out for midge and Callibaetis hatches. The hatches will be most likely to draw rising fish on the smaller, private ranch lakes, rather than the big public reservoirs. Mornings will be best except on calm days, as wind tends to make the lakes MUCH harder to fish.

Yellowstone Park is closed to fishing. The park season has officially been switched to a year-round open season on the lower Gardner and a small portion of the Madison. This change takes place November 1, but in reality on May 25 this year when the general season opens parkwide (unless stated otherwise in the regulations). Here is the Park Service announcement. This is going to revolutionize winter and early spring fishing in Yellowstone Park; the Gardner River in particular might be the best fishery in the Rocky Mountains in March and April next year, and it’ll be great whenever it’s warm enough to tolerate even in the dead of winter. We are stoked!

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