Livingston Montana Fishing Report

Detailed Reports

This NO BS Livingston Montana fishing report is valid from June 27 until about July 4, when we expect the Salmonfly hatch to completely finish outside Yellowstone Park and the Lamar System inside the park to be prime (though it is fishable right now).

Fishing has been exceptional for the past ten days or so and should stay good and not too different through July 4, though a cold snap for the next few days will be a “blip” of potentially muddy water and slower morning fishing.

We have had quite a cool June, very different from last season and most of the recent drought years (especially the worst, 2021). While hot weather in late July and August will potentially still bring “hoot owl” 2:00PM closures, the dire impacts of our dry/warm winter we were expecting in spring now seem to be off the table. Flows are now generally even with or above where they were on this date last year. Knock us over with a feather…

General Comments

Pretty much everything in our operations area is fishable right now due to a spot of cool/wet weather. The Lamar System is the least ready, since flows are still high, but there is fishing to be done even there. The Madison System in YNP has been running too warm in the past ten days, but the cool weather this weekend (including high elevation snow!) will give one more brief window before mid-week for you Firehole fans, especially in the mornings.

The real star has been the Yellowstone River. We guided it every day for the past ten days or so and all were somewhere between a 7 and a 10 on the 1-10 scale. Cloudy days have offered the best dry fly fishing, but the nymphing even on the busiest day we’ve ever seen on the “Bird Float” last weekend has been good even when sunny. The Yellowstone’s fish are in fantastic condition top to bottom. That’s where we suggest fishing.

The Details

The Yellowstone River: So good. Salmonflies and golden stoneflies are now peaking above Yankee Jim Canyon, but cool weather has strung them out as far down as Loch Leven. A couple species of caddis, PMD, Green Drakes, Yellow Sallies, and big early summer midges round out the hatches. This adds up to mean attractors of one breed or another are generally the tickets except where the big stonefly hatches are heaviest. Subsurface (if necessary – some days the dry fly fishing has been so good you don’t need nymphs), fish Prince-ish nymphs: the FKA, Red Dart, and green Montana Prince have been tops. If fishing a double nymph rig, run them behind a small Zirdle. If you’re getting all whitefish, go shallower and tighter to the banks before changing flies. We were running 4-1 trout/whitefish fishing at 4ft depth on our last Paradise Valley trip, while guides fishing 7ft deep moved some larger brown trout than we did but were getting 5-1 whitefish.

The Boulder River: has surprised us by staying about 1000cfs, making it floatable all the way from Forks to the Yellowstone (for now). Start with a “Chubby/Rubby” combo, but if you’re not getting fish on the surface or the dropper, put the “Rubby” under an indicator with an attractor nymph before you change flies. Sometimes the Boulder fish just won’t rise in the water column but will eat deep nymphs happily.

The lower Madison River will fish okay through Monday due to cool temps that will keep some floaters away. After that, it will be inner tube and kayak Armageddon until September, generally with water temps that are too warm for ethical fishing. Look for caddis hatches if you go before the window closes.

The Stillwater River is similar to the Boulder, but it’s high enough that you wouldn’t want to float downstream of Absarokee.

The Missouri River is very far away and will be more crowded and less productive on dries than our home waters.

Montana Small Streams: Most are now in good shape, though time is short for the East Gallatin and other low-elevation meadow streams. The pocket water mountain creeks will fish best in the afternoons, and will improve over the next couple weeks as they continue to drop. Fish attractor dry/dropper combos.

Local Trout Lakes and Reservoirs: Not really worth it unless you drive over to Hebgen, etc.

The Paradise Valley spring creeks are going to be tough or impossible to get on due to good PMD hatches. Cool weather has meant the hatches have started in the afternoons more often than not.

Yellowstone Park: Most waters are now clear and open. The main exceptions are the upper Yellowstone River above the Falls (closed until July 1) and Blacktail Ponds (likewise). The Madison and Firehole and Gibbon below their first major geyser basins will get too warm for the summer starting Tuesday or Wednesday.

  • Gardner: Good top to bottom. Fish the sections furthest from the road between Mammoth and Gardiner for the best fishing. This week is typically the most crowded of the season on this water. Look for salmonflies and golden stoneflies, but be prepared to fish big attractor dry/dropper combos or short line nymph rigs with a golden stone and something like a Prince or Bead, Hare, and Coppper (a specialty fly designed for this river by old-time tier Matt Minch). Nymphing is more likely to be required above Boiling River where hatches occur later into the season. Above Osprey Falls, fish a Trude or small Chubby with a Prince dropper. Slow fishing means you didn’t walk far enough or you’re fishing too early in the morning on a cold day.
  • Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: Spot salmonfly hatches are underway and will intensify over the next week. Also be ready with caddis, Yellow Sallies, and PMD. Fish streamers if nothing is happening on the surface. Tower Falls and maybe even Sulphur Beds (the scramble down from the Specimen Ridge Trail) may be very crowded this week, and this water fishes poorly when it’s busy.
  • Black Canyon of the Yellowstone: If you’re fit enough for it, this is where we would fish this week. The canyon should fish top to bottom on some combo of attractor dry/dropper combos or streamers, depending on where you are in relation to the salmonflies on any given day.
  • Lamar System: Getting to be “green is good,” but still high and cold. Look for Drake hatches to intensify in a week or so. Streamers, Yellow Sallies, and even Salmonflies in the Lamar Canyon and lower Slough Creek are the likely suspects right now.
  • Gibbon River: Monday might be a good day to look for a hatch in Elk Park or Gibbon Meadow. There are some bigggggggg brown trout… After that, stick to the grayling and westslope headwaters with a 3wt and small attractors.
  • Firehole River: Monday or Tuesday morning will be the last hurrah below Kepler Cascades until September. Cross your fingers for a banner White Miller caddis hatch.
  • Madison River: Maybe a good hatch Monday, but after that it will be best to fish elsewhere until September due to high water temps.
  • Lakes: On Yellowstone Lake, fish Buggers and baitfish imitations hoping to whack skinny lakers or maybe the biggest cutthroat you’ll ever see. On the grayling lakes, fish a tiny bugger or leech with a soft hackle or flashy little beadhead dropper.  Callibaetis and chironomid hatches may bring rising fish. A Parachute Adams is close enough for Callibaetis, and a Trude is close enough for the chironomids (really). Try to sight-fish to cruisers on Trout Lake using those same soft hackles and lil’ flashies, or scuds. Blacktail is closed until early July.
  • Small Creeks: Almost all are now low enough. Fish dry/dropper combos. The more meadow-type the creek, the more likely you need a #14 Elk Hair Caddis with a #18 Pheasant Tail dropper. The more rough and tumble, the bigger the dry/dropper you should use. On the largest tributaries to the Yellowstone like Hellroaring Creek, expect some salmonfly spillovers. On the Gardner’s brookie headwaters, fish whatever #12 visible attractor dry you want with a #16 Prince under it. No fish = walk farther. The Lamar tribs besides Slough and Soda Butte (including Pebble) are still high and cold, but you may want to have some #12 Parachute Adams and similar big “drake” patterns in case of spillover Green Drake hatches.

Note: Montana Outdoor‘s website is the only commercial external site authorized to use this content. Please let us know if you see it anywhere else.

Relevant Montana Fishing Report Links

Do you find these reports helpful? We don't sell flies or otherwise make money off of them, so we humbly ask that you consider Buying Us a Coffee. Also, if you've got the funds, you can...

Book a Trip