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All riversHatch chartWhite River, ArkansasDavidson RiverPenns CreekLetort Spring RunFarmington RiverPere Marquette RiverNorth Umpqua RiverDeschutes RiverSan Juan RiverFryingpan RiverYellowstone RiverBighorn RiverTraun RiverBeaverkill RiverRío GrandeGreen River below Flaming GorgeRiver WharfeHenry's Fork of the SnakeSoča RiverAu Sable RiverTongariro RiverSouth Platte — Deckers and CheesmanRiver TestMadison River

Insects

Brown troutRainbow troutMountain whitefishBrook troutCutthroat troutSteelheadEuropean graylingMarble troutSea-run brown troutResident brown trout

Techniques

Reading waterMatching a hatchNymphingDry-fly presentationStreamer fishingSwinging a flyCatch and release, done properlyTying flies you will actually fish

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Rivers
White River, ArkansasDavidson RiverPenns CreekLetort Spring RunFarmington RiverPere Marquette RiverNorth Umpqua RiverDeschutes RiverSan Juan RiverFryingpan RiverYellowstone RiverBighorn RiverTraun RiverBeaverkill RiverRío GrandeGreen River below Flaming GorgeRiver WharfeHenry's Fork of the SnakeSoča RiverAu Sable RiverTongariro RiverSouth Platte — Deckers and CheesmanRiver TestMadison River
Brown troutRainbow troutMountain whitefishBrook troutCutthroat troutSteelheadEuropean graylingMarble troutSea-run brown troutResident brown trout
Reading waterMatching a hatchNymphingDry-fly presentationStreamer fishingSwinging a flyCatch and release, done properlyTying flies you will actually fish

Yellowstone River · access

Montana and Wyoming, United States · United States

By The Fly Desk · Published 2026-09-23

Licence and rules

Licence and rules. Montana licences cover the river, but the reach inside Yellowstone National Park needs a separate park permit, and the park's rules differ — no lead, barbless only on some waters, and a closed season on the park's spawning tributaries. The Montana reach downstream of Gardiner has a delayed opening to protect spawning rainbow trout; check the exact date each year because it moves with the calendar.

Season

Closed to protect spawning until the third Saturday in July on much of the Montana reach; late July to October is the season

Flow

1,500 cfs in early June rising past 20,000 cfs during the June snowmelt peak at Corwin Springs

This is a snowmelt river and the hydrograph is the calendar. Peak flow arrives in the first half of June and the river is usually unfishable for three to four weeks. When the gauge starts to fall and the water turns from chocolate to green-grey, the cutthroat move back into the riffles and the season effectively begins. A dry year shifts everything two weeks early; a wet one shifts it two weeks late.

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