Fishing Season reopens in Yellowstone Park on Memorial Day Weekend. Until that time we are left to watch the snow pile up and plan for the upcoming season.
When the Park first opens for fishing, the Firehole River is often one of the few clear streams and has the first good hatches of the year. Traditional wet fly fishing and nymphing are productive, but most anglers prowl the Firehole to fish dries. Rising fish can be found on the opener when Baetis and a variety of Caddis are on the water. PMD’s often begin hatching right around opening day, and this fine hatch is the mainstay of the Firehole’s surface fishing until mid to late June when the water begins to warm and other fisheries supplant the Firehole as the best destination in the Park.
The Madison and Gibbon are the next rivers to come into shape and there are years when fine fishing can be found as soon as the Park is open. By late June the Gardiner and its tributaries are usually in shape and the Gallatin in Yellowstone is dropping and clearing. These rivers all provide good fishing throughout late June and July.
The rivers in the Northeast Corner of Yellowstone are among the last to clear and drop into shape. Most years the Fourth of July is a good starting point for finding clear water, but one should keep an eye on snowpack as this can vary by several weeks. Slough Creek is often the first fishable Lamar tributary. The Lamar and Soda Butte take longer to drop and clear than Slough Creek and are also much more prone to going out with rain. Dirty water can greet a fisherman anytime throughout the season if any rain has fallen. However, the Lamar and Soda Butte offer some of the best front country fishing in the Park when they are clear.
The Yellowstone River opens below Yellowstone Lake on July 15th. The River between Fishing Bridge and Hayden Valley was recently one of the best trout fisheries in the world. Cutthroat numbers have plummeted in recent years and visiting anglers are often shocked by the lack of fish in this section of the Yellowstone compared to what it was ten years ago. Lake Trout predation in Yellowstone Lake, Whirling Disease and low water seemingly are the three factors to blame on this fishery’s decline. The Yellowstone does still have some trout in it however, and these fish are larger now than ever before. It is no longer a numbers fishery, but it is a place to stalk a big rising cutthroat or two and catching a 20 inch Cutthroat on a dry is within the realm of possibility. However, many feel that the river should be closed to fishing to place as little stress on the remaining fish as possible, and they may very well be right. Is fishing the Yellowstone ethical? That is for you to decide.
There are countless other places to fish for trout inside of Yellowstone Park. Lakes, small streams and backcountry rivers all offer anglers a chance for less pressured fish and greater solitude inside our first National Park. This season in Yellowstone will have some excellent fishing.