When to Come and What To Expect:
Fly Fishing: Outside Yellowstone National Park – August – Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is one of the greatest freestone rivers in the World. It starts on the outside of the Southeast Corner of Yellowstone National Park and runs all the way through the park. When it exits the park, it has really just began. Of course, trout don’t exist its entire length, but they do down to Billings Montana.
August is a great month to fish the river. It is really never gets too warm anywhere along its length. It should be one of the places you should consider for August.
The Yellowstone exits the park at Gardiner. The river runs through a canyon and then into one of the most beautiful valleys in the World – Paradise Valley. Fishing is great the entire length. It can be fished by wading at one of its access points or fished from a drift boat. The river has cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout in this section.
August is the prime time for hopper fishing. Grasshoppers, ants and beetles are very plentiful along the banks of the river in the valley. There are large fields surrounding the river in most areas and grass hoppers are extremely plentiful. Most afternoons during August, the wind picks up and increases the action because more hoppers get into the water. You can pick up some very nice trout walking the banks as well as casting from a drift boat.
When the river nears Livingston, a number of channels and braids change the flows from the wide flows and provide excellent areas for larger trout to hold. There are several access points in the area of Livingston.
From Livingston to Big Timber, the river leaves the valley and flows through the high plains. This section is fished far less than the Paradise Valley area but that doesn’t mean it holds less trout or the fishing isn’t as good. There’s just a lot of water for everyone to cover.
We can highly recommend the terrestrial fishing on the Yellowstone River for August.
Copyright 2010 James Marsh