Everything across the state and inside Yellowstone Park is fishing as good as it gets. The mountain freestone rivers and creeks are fishing well. Spring creeks and tailwaters like the Missouri are popping with PMDS and some early tricos. Caddis and stoneflies are gangbusters on the Gallatin and Yellowstone Rivers. Get out there now and enjoy the incredible variety of great fishing to be had. You simply can’t find a bad place to fish right now. The Yellowstone River has runoff over and it is of course fishing awesome. The Missouri is in its abundance of mayfly hatch nirvana as a parade of PMDs grace the water each day. Damsel flies are popping on ranch lakes. The Yellowstone inside the Park is at fishable levels and is not quite 100% awesome, but pretty darn close. You simply can’t find a bad place to fish right now.
Southwest Montana Fishing Reports Overview
- Very Good
Pretty much not a bad place to fish right now in Montana! Water levels are slowly dropping on rivers and streams. The snow pack is not completely gone so the flows are still at higher levels and the water temps are still on the cool side. Trout love falling waters and the rising water temperatures...
Yellowstone River Fishing Report
- Very Good
The Yellowstone has been the place to be for the past week with some truly epic fishing. Lots of bent rods and smiling faces and some monster trout coming into the net. Nymphing tight to banks or in soft water in low gradient areas has been the ticket with some trout just beginning to look for...
Upper Madison River Fishing Report
- Very Good
The Upper has been on fire! The river is flowing lower than average but fishing is still great and it is fly soup on the water on a daily basis. This is helping to produce some of the best dry fly fishing in years over epic hatches like the salmonfly, golden stones, pmds, caddis and yellow sally. It...
Lower Madison River Fishing Report
- Fair
It is a morning only game right now on the Lower Madison with Hoot Owl Restrictions now in place. The Lower is starting to warm up and the best fishing is in the early morning with good fishing wrapping up around lunch time. Most of the fishing is subsurface with crayfish trailed by small PMD nymphs...
Gallatin River Fishing Report
- Red Hot
The Gallatin is fishing great on attractor dry flies with bead droppers. Nymphing the deeper runs with a stonefly on top and a smaller mayfly nymph on point is also very effective. The Gallatin should continue to provide great fishing for the next few weeks. The trout are still in the softer water...
Montana Spring Creeks Fishing Report
- Very Good
This is very good time on the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks with the annual PMD emergence occurring right now. The spring creeks are on fire this time of year with daily hatches of pale morning duns bringing nearly every trout in the spring creek to the surface. The hatches begin between 10am and...
Stillwater River Fishing Report
- Good
The Stillwater River is now fishable. The floating is run and gun and the best fishing will be to pull over and work inside corners with slower water. The river needs to drop a bit more before the attractor dry fly fishing hits its stride. The Month Ahead: The Stillwater should produce some great...
Boulder River Fishing Report
- Very Good
The Boulder River is hanging in the 1000 range and will probably stay there for awhile. This isn’t a big fish river but it is fun river to cast attractor dry flies. Wading will continue to become more manageable as flows drop and floating should be an option while the river is dropping.These flows...
Jefferson River Fishing Report
- Fair
The Jeff is hard to fish right now with lots of algae in the water gumming up flies on almost every cast. Even dry flies are picking up lots of junk. The fish are eating but it is just too hard to fish with the algae drift. This will improve in August when nights become shorter. The Month Ahead: The...
East Gallatin River Fishing Report
- Good
The water on the East is dropping and getting to flows that are easier to wade. If you are accessing from bridges for some evening fishing afterwork it is still a bit tricky crossing from bank to bank in some places without trespassing above the high water mark. Trout are just beginning to rise to...
Missouri River Fishing Report
- Very Good
With flows on the Mo below 4,000 CFS right now and probably staying there, the Missouri River has been fishing quite well lately with hatches of PMDs and caddis. The entire river from Wolf Creek down to Cascade as been fishing well. Look for pods of fish in the usual areas during a PMD hatch-...
Ruby River Fishing Report
- Good
The Ruby is a nice option in the early summer with lots of pale morning duns to keep trout well fed. The fishing is often subsurface below the dam but if you have some nice cloud cover it can result in a lot of heads. Fishing a small streamer in the mornings also can turn a lot of trout. Nymphing is...
Montana Lakes Fishing Report
- Good
Current Conditions: The smaller private ranch lakes that we target like Burns and Sitz are still fishing well. The bugs aren’t hatching in great abundance yet but trout are cruising and hungry and catch rates have been high and weed growth is minimal. The larger lakes like Hebgen and Ennis can also...
Small Streams Fishing Report
- Good
The small stream fishing options near Big Sky and Bozeman are quickly coming into shape. A mixed bag of hatching insects has the trout looking up and dry fly fishing can be great. When fishing the small streams in Montana it is always important to be aware of the Montana Stream Access Law. We are...