Yellowstone Park

[Jeff Johnson]

Hey guys - I am in the middle of the planning for my trip out to Montana (buffalo kid..living in baltimore) and was wondering how people felt about the waters of Yellowstone (obliviously they are sweet, but looking for some advise on them.)  We have a few mandatory stops already planned on Montana waters but still have a few days unaccounted for.  Has anyone ever fished the  firehole, madision, or slough inside the park?  How do these rivers fish compared to the blue ribben waters of Montana?  Another thought....Henry's Fork?!?.  Let me know if any of you have fished these waters before.  Not looking for tons of info, just if it is worth leaving the madison and bighole and going into the park and what type of fishing to expect.  Thanks 

PS - Sweet new website!!!  I learn a lot from all your posts....so keep them coming. 

[Rashed Abdullah]

Hey guys - I am in the middle of the planning for my trip out to Montana (buffalo kid..living in baltimore) and was wondering how people felt about the waters of Yellowstone (obliviously they are sweet, but looking for some advise on them.)  We have a few mandatory stops already planned on Montana waters but still have a few days unaccounted for.  Has anyone ever fished the  firehole, madision, or slough inside the park?  How do these rivers fish compared to the blue ribben waters of Montana?  Another thought....Henry's Fork?!?.  Let me know if any of you have fished these waters before.  Not looking for tons of info, just if it is worth leaving the madison and bighole and going into the park and what type of fishing to expect.  Thanks 

PS - Sweet new website!!!  I learn a lot from all your posts....so keep them coming. 

I graduated from the University of montana in bozeman so I know the area very well. I spent about 250 days on the water there...hence my less than stellar GPA..
Some gems are there to be had. You might want to try the Gallatian river below big sky and the town of manhattan..Very classic freestone river and very wade able.  I would also try the little gallatian.  Very sweetspots there..if you pm me I will tell you exactly where.  There is also a pay creek off the little gallitian that is worth going to...its by the airport, just north of it.  There are two spring creeks on that ranch. Rock creek is another place, thats on the west slope, so you'll get west slope cutthroats. On the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers there are tons of places. Dont let the big river scare you, the fish are in the seams near the bank! and wait till the evening hatch on the yellowstone river (even in the park or just outside it)..it looks like the seems near the bank are boiling!!  You can easily get into 3+ lb cutthroats at that time of the day. Big horn river is well worth the drive. YOu can rent drift boats or wade the access areas. Can be crowded so if you got the cash rent the drift boat or hire a guide...it is well worth it. I used to fish that river a lot. A college budy of mine (his father) had a cabin there and we had use of the cabin and the drift boat!  Great times....nothing like seing football like browns and bows drift right under you...here you will see 5+ lb browns and bows sipping in size 22-24 midges in the seams...there are tons of other spots..  The big name rivers are fun to go to but there are alot more little gems out there to explore..like I said..if you want the details, send me a PM.

R

[Rashed Abdullah]

Oh yes the madison..forgot that spot. Its a fun river to wade fish. You will catch fish all day there.  The evening hatch of caddis is unbelievable!  We had to light ciggars just to keep the bugs away from our face and going up our nose. I didn't particularly like above hebgen lake...and the slide area i didn't care for. I like further down where the river starts to widen out and you look for the trout hanging out in between the seams created by the weeds. Careful where you wade...there is fish all over those weedbeds and in between, it can go from knee deep to almost over you head!

Good luck with your trip planning!