Livingston Montana Fishing Report

Detailed Reports

This NO BS Livingston Montana fishing report is valid from August 14 until the end of August, roughly.

General Comments

Huzzah! Today is the first day of substantially cooler weather that is forecast to last. We’ve got three days of 70-degree highs (at low elevation), then no temps higher than the low eighties (seasonal) throughout the ten-day forecast. This will drastically lower water temperatures, make the fish much friskier, improve dry fly fishing in particular, and make for far less tired fishing guides since we won’t be waking up at 4:00AM to make lunches for a 5:45 meeting anymore.

Because of the big cooldown, Montana and YNP have lifted most 2:00PM “hoot-owl” fishing closures in our operations area and elsewhere in Montana. A few low-elevation areas and areas heated by geysers remain on 2:00PM or complete closures, but basically none of these are anyplace anybody wants to fish in August anyway. A short closure remains on the lower end of the upper Madison River near Ennis, but we expect this closure to be lifted within a day or two of this writing.

In general, we expect the best fishing to occur around midday for awhile, and early morning starts are not recommended except maybe on the hottest, brightest days. Late afternoon is still not typically the best period to fish until water temps really start plummeting in mid-late September, but late day fishing is much more of an option moving forward than it has been since early July. Water temps are unlikely to peak over 65 degrees or so on any important waters moving forward. For the past several weeks, they often have not gotten below this temperature.

Hoppers and other terrestrials will be the bread and butter flies most places, often in tandem. If going dry/dropper fish a flashy mayfly-style attractor in #16-18 behind your hopper. If going deep, drag a small Zirdle or larger sculpin with that same flashy nymph on the dropper, or swap the streamer for a stonefly nymph. Appreciable hatches will be rare, but various mayflies and a few lagging caddis are possible.

Here is the current list of hoot-owl and complete closures in the state of Montana. Note that this list lags by a few hours.

Here are YNP news releases. Closures will be noted in new or updated releases.

The Details

The Yellowstone River: is starting to fish much better than it did during the record heat that occurred from July 10 through roughly August 10. On the surface, fish hoppers. We like our #14 Bob Hopper in peach, burnt orange, or mustard, focusing on numbers, but some guides like running really big hoppers to target those few “unicorn” brown trout. On the dropper, bicolor parachute ants were the big winners on August 12, but we also caught fish on other ants and #16 Copper Hazy Cripples. If running dry/dropper, we’ve been going somewhat larger on the Bob Hopper with a #16 pearl Lightning Bug or similar on a 3+ foot dropper. A large minority of the nymph eaters are taking on the twitch. We think the LB looks like a fry when it’s moving like this. With beginners, we have been running the LB behind a Zirdle or stonefly nymph down the deeper rips. Note that the trout are likely to move into substantially slower and less-choppy water over the next few days, as they will no longer require the absolutely most highly-oxygenated water with the cooldown.

The Boulder River: is too low below Natural Bridge. Above, fish hopper-dropper combos. The upper Boulder in particular will fish better in the afternoons moving forward, as it comes down out of the high, cold mountains in a hurry and will get very cold at night.

The lower Madison River is under a complete fishing closure immediately below Ennis Dam and is under hoot owl restrictions further downstream. It should be completely closed, and even if you ignore that advice, your fly is more likely to hook a drunk floating along in an inner tube than a trout until the middle of September.

The upper Madison is now under hoot-owls from 8 Mile down to Ennis Lake. We expect these to be lifted any day and would not hesitate to fish anywhere on the “Upper.” Terrestrials will be tops on the surface, but dragging a sculpin with a $3 Dip or similar dropper is also a good bet. Don’t hesitate to run later in the day here. Putting in at 10:00AM instead of 8:15 on a float trip or fishing from 6:00PM until dark will put you out of sequence with the crowds.

The Stillwater River is running very low, under 500cfs now. The bottom basically fell out in early August, probably due to the reservoirs up the Rosebud (a trib) running out of water to push down. If you’re up for dragging your raft or have an ultralight, the river is still floatable from Jeffrey’s Landing to the Yellowstone. Some fall mayflies are already possible here with the cooldown, but hopper/dropper is the way to go most of the time. Run a #10-12 Bob Hopper or Morrish-style in pink, peach, or mottled tan/brown (which doubles as a Nocturnal Stonefly) with a gold, silver, or pearl Lightning Bug on the dropper. Early mornings are likely to be slow, as this water runs much colder than the Yellowstone.

The Missouri River is very far away and is in its weedy late summer doldrums. A few Tricos will still be around in the mornings. Hoppers and ants can bring some risers if there aren’t any Tricos. Otherwise, most fishing involves nymphing the holes in the weeds with Zirdles trailing sowbugs and midge pupae. One of the shops in Craig likes to complain about guides from elsewhere in Montana coming up there in late May and June, even those of us who were doing it before their shop opened. Well, right now is when I see guides from that shop in the Livingston area, sometimes guiding and sometimes fishing on their own. That shop doesn’t have anything to say about this.

Montana Small Streams: The East Gallatin is under hoot owl closure and ought to be completely closed. Other low elevation meadow streams like the Musselshell are in something of the same boat. Steep mountain creeks with wooded courses (Hyalite, Mill, Big) are among the better bets in the region as long as you get upstream of their irrigation withdrawals, generally in the National Forests. Fish small-medium hoppers or something like a #12 Coachman Trude with a #16 flashy dropper nymph of your choice. Afternoons will be best moving forward.

Local Trout Lakes and Reservoirs: If you have a boat and the wind is calm, the lakes are a surprisingly decent option right now. We actually guided Dailey Lake one day a couple weeks ago and put rookies into a dozen trout running from 12 to 17 inches. The key is to get out to the sharpest drop-offs and run your flies just below the thermocline. Damsel nymphs and chironomid pupae/larvae are top choices. The Beartooth and other high alpine lakes require a much more aggressive commitment (all-day hikes at least for the good ones), but they will still be cool.

The Paradise Valley spring creeks may see Sulphur or midge hatches, with calm/cloudy days generally best. More of the fishing will be subsurface, with sight-nymphing or nymphing the riffles the most likely prospects. Midge pupae and tiny mayfly nymphs are best.

Yellowstone Park: NOTE: Complete fishing closures are in place on the Firehole, Madison, and Gibbon downstream of Norris Geyser Basin, as well as on all tributaries of these waters in these sections.

  • Gardner: Too warm and weedy below Boiling River. The best fishing will be from lower Sheepeater Canyon to Boiling River. Fish a Chubby/dropper combo or straight nymph with a stonefly/attractor combo. The brookie headwaters start getting very shaky this time of year. The best “beginner brookie” water will be below Sheepeater Cascade.
  • Yellowstone River from the Lake to the Falls: Fish numbers are declining fast, since most of the fish in this stretch spend their winters in Yellowstone Lake. If you encounter a hatch and rising fish, match the hatch. Various sizes of Green Drake are probably most likely now. A more likely tactic is swinging streamers. Trout spey fishing a big ‘Bugger is a good tactic.
  • Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: Hopper-dropper rigs are the name of the game right now. Go big on your hopper until the fish tell you otherwise. This is a place a #8 Pink Pookie still works. On the coolest, cloudiest days, you might see a BWO hatch. Yep, even in August. More likely are Epeorus or Heptagenia, which are big and cream or slightly smaller and yellow, respectively. The hatches will be scattered. Streamers are also a really good idea sometimes…
  • Black Canyon of the Yellowstone: Rapidly improving as water temps cool. Fish similar flies as in the Grand Canyon.
  • Lamar River: Little Green Drake and PMD hatches are possible and will draw the best action. Absent a hatch, nymph the heads of the pools in the morning or hunt heads with hoppers, beetles, and ants.
  • Soda Butte Creek: Similar to Lamar, though temps will be slightly cooler. Some #12 Drakes will still be hatching upstream from Ice Box Canyon in particular. Also try spruce moths in that area. The water in the trees will fish best after noon. The meadows may fish best in the afternoons, but are more likely to fish well from around 10:00 until 1:00. Similar hatches as the Lamar. As we get into late August, a #18 Zebra Midge with a copper bead and rib can really work, and there may be Tricos in the AM.
  • Slough Creek: Similar to Lamar. Ants are generally far more effective terrestrials than hoppers here. Beetles are also a good choice.
  • Gibbon River: Closed to fishing below the bridge adjacent to Norris Campground due to high water temps. Above, fish attractor dry/dropper combos in the rougher areas or match hatches in the Norris Meadow. The choppier water further from the road will offer better opportunities for decent numbers of cutthroat or grayling.
  • Firehole River: Closed due to high water temps.
  • Madison River: Closed due to high water temps.
  • Lakes: We generally don’t fish lakes in the park for the remainder of the season, but the grayling lakes will turn out some fish on leeches, small soft hackles and nymphs, and occasionally offer up a Callibaetis or damsel hatch. Mornings before the wind kicks up are best.
  • Small Creeks: Steep mountain creeks should still be nice and cold, with the possible exception of tiny trickles like [[[NAME REDACTED]]]. Afternoons will be best. Fish some flavor of hopper/dropper combo. The smaller the creek, the smaller the flies. The gentle meadow streams are going to be awfully skinny to offer productive fishing. Do you really want to chase spooky 8-inchers in low, clear water? On the other hand, most other people say “no” to that question, too…

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