On the Yellowstone River near Livingston, Bozeman, Big Timber, and on down to Billings we are into the deep dive into winter. And with the cold snap forecast for the coming weekend, fishing on the Yellowstone River might be tough as shelf ice and slush and floating ice should make things difficult and the single digits temps, things might even be dangerous. If you do plan to go fishing, be cautious, tell a friend, as a slip and fall into the water when the air temperature is so cold means hypothermia can set in quickly.
Target the top of longer and slower runs to find feeding trout first but if success doesn't happen, go deeper and find even slower water. Plan on fishing the after lunch hours with nymphing being the staple. Rubber legs trailed by a prince is as fancy as you need to get. The most important thing is to find a nice winter holding run with steady slow current and a few feet of depth.
Read some of our recent blog posts featuring: 5 Tips for Winter Fly Fishing, Winter Fly Fishing Tips that Go Beyond Just Dressing Warm, 5 Tips to Improve Your Fly Fishing with Streamers or Winter Fly Fishing Options Near Bozeman. Our tailwater fisheries of the Upper Madison and Missouri Rivers are good bets right now while a freestone river like the Yellowstone River may soon have shelf ice and where you can fish safely will be limited to certain sections.
Best Flies for the Yellowstone River Right Now:
Beadhead Pheasant Tails in size 16-20
Beadhead Copper Johns in sizes 16-20
Rainbow warriors in sizes 16-20
Zebra Midges in sizes 16-22
Beadhead PTs in sizes 18-22
Juju beatis in flash, black, or olive in sizes 16 and 18
Current Conditions:
Streamflows are well below average for this time of year which makes it a little easier to find the trout. Look in the deeper water next to shallow water, adjacent to riffles, shelfs, and banks. Trout will still be where there is some current because the current is what is bringing them food. Most trout are going to be caught in water that is 4-6 feet deep and has some current but isn't too fast or pushy. Trout want consistency right now...consistency of flow and food source. Trout on the Yellowstone River right now aren't actively feed nearly as much as they were even just a few weeks ago. But if you fish during the warmer parts of the day you might get into some pretty solid action.
The Month Ahead:
The ‘Stone will be a tough option once the big ice shelves begin to form and the slush is in the river. The best winter fishing tends to be up near Gardiner and around Livingston where a few springs and spring creeks enter into the river.