Yellowstone National Park is a fly fisher’s paradise, for good reason. It’s a source for Yellowstone Country Fly Fishing‘s name. We’d love to introduce you to the reasons why.
Our owner and head guide Walter Wiese has been guiding in the park since 2001, as long as most guides in the area have been alive. While newer guides might stick to the crowded roadside waters where “combat fishing” is all too common, he loves the lesser-known places where you’re likely to fish without any competition at all.
Want to float or mix in some private water fishing on your Yellowstone Park fishing vacation? We have great options within a couple minutes of the North Entrance, where our rafts and private access can put us on water few outfitters use.
Top Trips in and near Yellowstone Park
Guided fly fishing trips in and near Yellowstone Park are a great way to explore the region, whether you’re an experienced angler looking for an edge on one the area’s world-famous rivers or a beginner just looking to learn how to fly fish in one of the best places in the United States to do it. Here are some great options we provide inside and just outside the park:
River Float Trips
While there’s no float fishing inside Yellowstone Park itself, the Yellowstone River within minutes of the park’s north entrance offers the best dry fly fishing in the area, and it’s our favorite float water in the entire region. Ask about our specialty, float-fishing the whitewater of Yankee Jim Canyon, which few outfitters and guides dare to go.
Walk & Wade Trips
Yellowstone National Park is a wade-fisher’s paradise, whether you’re interested in fishing a world-famous river, a tiny mountain creek, or anything in between. With the fame comes crowded conditions… but we shed the crowds by hiking into spots we often have to ourselves.
Private Water Trips
Why fish private water when Yellowstone Park is the nation’s largest expanse of public water? Because private lakes within about 30 minutes of the park’s north entrance offer excellent fishing for larger trout in May and June, when runoff limits big-fish destinations inside the park.
Multiday Trips
Yellowstone Park and its border regions provide tons of options, so why not fish for several days? Our Gardiner Go-Getter and Yellowstone Sampler trips are tailor-made for this area, while visitors looking for a customized package just need to give us a call to start building your ideal trip.
What Our Clients Have to Say
If you are planning to fish the great trout rivers around the Livingston region Walter is your man. And if you do, tell him Bud and Dave say thanks!
Also, we had bad weather/water conditions on the scheduled day but were able to reschedule for another day on our trip, which made us very happy!
Overall, great day on the river. Would definitely recommend booking with him.
The whole experience was excellent from start to finish and made for a very memorable day. I would definitely book another trip with Yellowstone Country Fly FIshing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fishing tackle is included, but you are also welcome to bring your own. Flies are also included, including many custom fly patterns our guides have developed specifically for local waters. Do you like to tie your own? No problem. We'll let you know what to tie, and you can check out our YouTube fly tying tutorials to learn how to tie some of our specialties.
We do not supply wading gear. It is not needed on our most popular trips, and may be rented from local shops if required.
We focus on the northern and west-central parts of the park, including the Yellowstone, Lamar, Gardner, Firehole, and Gibbon River systems.
We regularly fish with clients staying in West Yellowstone (in late spring and early summer primarily), Cooke City, and Gardiner at the park’s entrances, towns including Livingston and Bozeman, and park campgrounds and developments from Old Faithful and Lake Lodge north. Not sure where these places are? Give us a call.
Note that Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, and areas in Idaho are several hours from us.
It depends on the time of year and your interests and fitness.
In general, we hike further in the summer than we do in spring and fall, as well as anytime we are fishing a famous river like the Yellowstone or Lamar. We almost always hike at least a mile one-way to shed the roadside crowds.
If that sounds daunting, we suggest a float trip instead, since the roadside wading fisheries really do get fished out.
We wet-wade on our wade trips in Yellowstone Park from early or mid-June through early September, but you will want to have or rent dedicated wading boots rather than sandals, water shoes, or old sneakers, since the rocks are slick and currents are fast.
Chest waders are generally required for all trips from mid-September until mid-June. Sandals or water shoes are fine for summer boat trips, because you’ll just get your feet wet getting in and out of the boat.
Note that rubber-soled wading shoes are required inside Yellowstone Park. No felt soles are allowed.
Yellowstone Park and Montana near the Yellowstone Park border offer the widest range of gamefish in our operations area. Two subspecies of native cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, and brook trout are the main target species, but we also have opportunities for native Arctic grayling and whitefish.
We’re particularly fond of the native cutthroats and grayling, since they’re “supposed” to be here, and they take us to the wildest waters…
It totally depends on the time of year and to a lesser extent on the goals you have for your fishing trip. Madison Campground is a great place to stay for early June fishing on the Gibbon River, but it’s terrible in late July when the nearby waters are too warm to fish well and are sometimes even closed. On the other hand, Roosevelt Lodge is wonderful in late July, but it’s over an hour’s drive from clear, productive water in early June.
Give us a call and we’ll be glad to help you plan.
Absolutely. While we don't include lodging in any of our rates, we have some preferred hotels and campgrounds that work best for our clients. Give us a call and we'll give you our recommendations based on your budget, timeframe, and fishing goals. We'd also be happy to help with other travel planning.
Are You an Information Junkie?
If so, our website will be just the ticket. You'll find plenty of additional info about our guide services, our specialty flies, and more. We also provide more helpful content about area fisheries and fishing tactics than you'll fine in many guidebooks. All this is intended to help you plan your trip - whether you decide to fish with us or not.
Sound good? Grab a cup of coffee or something stronger, click or tap the button below, and get ready for a deep dive into fly fishing Yellowstone Country.
As you absorb all the info on our site, we ask you to consider one thing: think about how much we hold back for our clients….
