Yellowstone Fishing Report

July 11, 2004

As Yellowstone moves into the summer mode, where you want to fish will be changing. The Firehole River flows through many geothermal areas and typically by the end of June or the first part of July it is time to focus on other waters in the Park. The Firehole will heat up to such an extent that the fish move into more suitable habitats and angling for them becomes very difficult. So instead of unduly stressing these fish we suggest that you leave the Firehole until fall. All tributaries of Yellowstone Lake open July 15^th,and with this, all waters in Yellowstone National Park will be open to fishing (excluding certain waters that are permanently closed). This will include the renowned stretch of the Yellowstone River from Fishing Bridge to the Canyon. The last several years this section of the Yellowstone has fished pretty tough. During the last five years of drought, our seasons have been accelerated, which has pushed the Cutthroat to spawn early. This meant by the time this part of river had opened to fishing, a lot of the fish had already made their way back to Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake has also fished tough the last couple of years but this year we have experienced good fishing. Many locals believe it was due to our more normal May and June weather patterns. Hopefully this will run true for the river as well.

The first couple of days of the Yellowstone opener always bring excitement with the annual pilgrimage of fisherman from all over the world. The river can be exhilarating with good hatches and fish that have not seen an artificial fly in almost eight months. There can be a variety of insect hatches. Over the course of a day you could see Salmon flies, Golden Stones, Yellow Sally�s, Green Drakes, PMD�s, Flav�s, and a variety of Caddis. Which insects you will see will depend a lot on what time of day you are there. Many times these hatches can overlap and sometimes you will have to put on your thinking cap.

This is another classic. I can�t tell you how many times I�ve had to leave my fishing hole to get out of the way of bison crossing the river. Or how many times I�ve seen grizzlies there � one time way too close. I was in the middle of the river and he or she ( I was too startled to care) was swimming across the river right behind me...so close I could have hooked it on an errant back-cast. Needless to say I discovered a new emotion for the word frightened. So if you haven�t fished this part of the Jellystone, it is one to put on your list.

Good Fishing,
Howard Cole

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