It’s time to make Big Plans for fishing in Big Sky Country. Montana has several amazing National and State parks. Yellowstone, Glacier, and The Tetons, are just a few destinations.
One of the places that brought my family to Montana was Yellowstone Park. My teaching family would travel west and spend the entire summer in YNP. Every 2 weeks we would change campgrounds and explore a new area.
Fishing was a huge motivator for us. My Dad, brother, and I would try every watershed in the park. We used spinning, flyrods and our canoe to explore new fishing hot spots. We rarely saw any bears in the backcountry, but Bear Jams slowed our travel on the roadways.
The fishing in the 1960’s, and after, was exceptional. Charlie Brooks, Bud Lilly, Dan Bailey, Bob Jacklyn, and others were in their prime. The parks were not so crowded, and people would even camp in tents!
My plan for this summer is to try and fish in the park at least one day a week. Living in Belgrade, Montana means that a day trip of fishing is possible. Over my life, I have fished most of the trout water in Yellowstone. So where should I fish now?
The water in the park has changed. As the geothermal features have warmed, so have the watersheds. Fewer trout are available. Bigger trout are also less common. The park is no longer stocked with fish. When Yellowstone Park was first established over half of the parks waters were sterile of fish. Stocking set up what are the “Wild Trout “populations that exist now.
The Slough Creek is still a fun fishery. McBride Lake is home to true native Cutthroats. The Firehole River is beautiful even if the trout are smaller and fewer. The Madison River can be great fun during hopper time. Several lakes offer some fast and furious trout fishing. The better lakes require hiking. Fishing on the Lamar can be great. The Gardiner River was fantastic until the flood and may be recovering. I am curious to see what the upper and lower Gibbon River are like since the eradication of the “wild trout.” Cutthroats will now be resident trout.
Lewis and Shoshone Lakes can be great fishing. The Lewis River offers great sport. Yellowstone Lake is making a comeback since the introduced lake trout are being eradicated. Hopefully, the Yellowstone River will again offer superb Cutthroat spawning runs.
The small and lesser-known creeks can offer fun fishing. I plan on using some more recent fishing guides to look at potential fun fishing waters. Usually, the best fishing is not planned.
There are plenty of tourists crowding up the roads, so getting an early start can help access the park before the traffic. A senior pass will grant old farts fishing access for free. We still need a park fishing license, which has increased in cost from the old days.
There are more Grizzly Bears in the park so carrying bear spray or a permitted sidearm is a good idea. Make noise to let the bears know you are coming.
Hopefully I will be whooping and hollering enough from catching fish to scare the bears away.
Montana Grant
