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Yellowstone River Fishing Report

Date: 06/17/2025
Posted by: Toby Swank

Current Conditions

The Yellowstone River is on the drop and clearing quickly. Flows are still high, but skilled anglers will be able to find plenty of fish in these conditions. The trick is to keep your flies on the inside of the heavy water. However, heavy flows pillow off the banks and make it challenging to keep nymph and dry/dripper rigs in the best water for too long.

The river is clearing nicely, bugs are out - including salmonflies - and the fishing is just starting to get going for the season in Paradise Valley. Once the flows drop below 7000 CFS, the river starts to fish well for less experienced anglers.

Nymph with tandem rigs under a strike indicator for the best success right now. Back eddies, bottoms of islands, and seams between slow and fast currents are the places to focus on. 

You can check current water clarity through a handful of webcams in the area, here's one that our Bozeman fly fishing guides watch at Pine Creek and one that is hosted by Montana Whitewater in Gardiner.

Additional Resources:

Yellowstone River Fly Fishing in June

Bozeman Fly Fishing in June

Bozeman Fly Fishing Guide to June

Stream Flows

Yellowstone River Fishing Report Streamflow

Flows

Recommended Flies

				  Guides Choice Hares Ear TNG Olsen G Bd Nat

Hare's Ear Guides Choice

				  Great attractor pattern when fishing Yellowstone River in Montana.

Purple Psycho Prince

				  Frenchie nymph pattern for flyfishing Montana on the Gallatin River

Frenchie

				  Iron sally tb

Iron Sally

				  Use a Pats' Rubberleg for Madison River fishing in high-water.

Black Pat's Rubberleg

				  Pats rubberleg bronw

Brown Pat's Rubberleg

				  Circus peanut water walker

Circus Peanut Water Walker

				  Chubby Chernobyl Pteronarcys

Chubby Chernobyl Pteronarcys

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.


Additonal Yellowstone River Fly Fishing Resources


Yellowstone River Guided Fly Fishing Trips

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Montana River Shuttles

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Montana Fly Fishing Trip Photo Galleries

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Area Map of Yellowstone River Fly Fishing in Montana



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