Yellowstone River Fishing Report
Date: 07/13/2025
Posted by: Toby SwankCurrent Conditions
The Yellowstone River has been fishing well this week, From the upper stretches near Gardiner down through Livingston and into the Big Timber area, the river is flowing clean, cool, and is very fishable. Water levels have stabilized around 3,800–4,000 cubic feet per second in the mid-valley, with temperatures in the ideal range for trout activity, particularly in the mornings and evenings when things are cooler.
Early mornings and dusk, anglers can expect reliable dry fly action. Patterns like chubby chernobyls, foam caddis, purple haze, and smaller stimulators are all producing on the surface.
Midday fishing remains productive using dry-dropper or double-nymph rigs. Nymphing with a pats rubber legs to a smaller attractor nymph like a lightning bug, prince nymph, or PMD style perdigon below a strike indicator has been the most successful.
Throwing larger streamers in white, olive, and black, using patterns like the double gonga, full-size sex dungeon, peanut envy, and silk kitty have been our go-to. Providing for some decent eats off the ledges and drop-offs and getting the attention of some trophy-sized brown trout.
the Yellowstone River is offering some of the best fishing of the season right now. With strong hatches, good flows, and a mix of surface and subsurface opportunities, anglers of all levels can find success whether they’re tossing dries, drifting nymphs, or stripping streamers.
Additional Resources:
Yellowstone River Fly Fishing in July
Livingston Fly Fishing Guide to July
Stream Flows
Flows
Recommended Flies
Yellow Sally Stimi
Gold Lightning Bug
Brown Elk Hair Caddis
Coffee/Black Restless Stone
Sweetgrass Hopper
Tungsten Jigged Prince
Royal Chubby Chernobyl
Tan and Yellow Double Gonga
Olive Double Gonga
Brown Pat's Rubberleg
Yellowstone River Fishing
Read our "Yellowstone River Fishing Guide" for a detailed overview of fly fishing the Yellowstone River in Montana. This is a great resource for anglers fishing near Bozeman Montana and details the various river stretches and seasonal hatches with tips from our Bozeman fly fishing guides on Yellowstone River fly fishing.
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