I will be in Yellowstone during the first week of June. I have been there before and I’m fairly familiar with the waters, but all of my previous visits were in September. I can imagine that the water conditions are very different in June, almost like a different place.
I have studied the fishing regulations on the park site, and I’m aware that the general fishing season opens the Saturday before I will be there, but there are many, many listed exceptions to the general rule. I have also reviewed the “Great Rivers” section on this site, but I still have questions.
Obviously, spring runoff could make some of the waters I have fished look like new streams. Can anyone give me advice on what streams are open to fishing and not blown out by spring runoff? What about effective flies (my September fishing has been dominated by hoppers and other terrestrials)? What’s the weather like there in early June?
I was there the first week in June a few years ago. It is actually a great time to be there since the crowds tend to start a little later. We got there on the 5th of June and there was a little traffic. By the 14th of June the roads were crowded.
I fished the Firehole and some tributaries mostly. The water there is a little warmer that time of year and runoff is limited.
If you do a search on some of the West Yellowstone MT guide services…almost all of them have up to the minute river reports and “summer predictions” of the streams. Jacklin; Bud Lilly; Craig Mathews…etc.
You got some great advice on water and shops to contact (you can get good weekly reports from Blue Ribbon Flyshop; just go to their site and sign up); you might want to check out Parks Flyshop’s Trip Planner section, too; Wally’s done a great job setting this up:
Duck Creek north of W. Yellowstone. Supposed to be bears there but never saw one in a dozen or more trips. browns and rainbow from hebgon that time of year.
This year, the Firehole, Gibbon, and Madison will all almost certainly be fishable, with the Firehole at its best, in early June. The Gardner and the Yellowstone below the falls --which always opens with the general season, unlike the section above the falls-- are possibilities, especially if you like streamers and big nymphs.
If you have a belly boat, bring it. If the ice is off Lewis Lake you can get some nice browns and lake trout near the outlet.
The link to my site already given above will help.
I forgot, one great resource is the “Yellowstone Fly Fishing Guide” by Craig Mathews. It is broken down by areas and has a lot of good info and maps. It can be had on Amazon.com for about $12.00.
I also fished the Gibbon, north of the the Norris/Canyon road, up to Little Gibbon Falls. This is a poorly marked trailhead and a very lightly used trail, but well worth the trip. The fish are smallish, but the scenery and wildlife are great. If you go here, wear your wading boots because the trail is marshy. We saw more bear scat on this trail than anywhere this side of Alaska, but didn’t see any bears. Make sure you go all the way to Little Gibbon Falls. One of the most peaceful places in the park.
Many thanks to all who replied! This is terrific information, just what I was looking for. Count on the readership of FAOL to know - and share - the inside info.
There probably isnt even a bunny rabbit there now. I was there end of Aug of 2009…and they are tearing up the road right there at Gibbon Falls. No way they finished before snow time in 2009.
The area to the right before you started up the grade ( heading north) HAD BEEN the Gibbon picnic area…prior to the big fire of '88. Now its under about 30 feet of blown rock that came off the hillside…and they werent nearly finished.
He’s talking about the upper Gibbon between the Canyon-Norris (not Norris-Madison) road and Wolf Lake, upstream of Virginia Meadows. The Gibbon is about 5-10 feet wide in this section and home to micro-brookies, rainbows, and occasional grayling. This is roughly 15 river miles above the big falls.
The road between Norris and Madison is indeed open to over the snow travel right now. Forecast to be open for cars with up to 30 minute delays starting in the spring, with all work to be done in the fall of 2010.
Ahhhh…I got ya now.
So they will have the road done by fall of 2010 huh…snicker…Just like the east entrance that they have been working on since 1978…that was suppose to be a 6 yr deal.
With some of the mudslides that hit the east entrance road (I went through Sylvan Pass after the 2004 mudslide and it was amazing) keeping it open is almost a full-time job.
I was there in June a few years ago and if you hit the Firehole about 10AM the PMD’s come off for about two hours. Then in the afternoon about 4:30 till about dark there is a small black caddis that is awesome. But I must say that the Henry’s fork was pretty good also. Check out the Madison between the lakes and stop in at Campfire Lodge and Resort where you can get a Montana sized breakfast and see more hackle hanging on the wall like you have never seen before.