Fishing in Yellowstone?

[ryanb-72]

Hello all, We are planning for our trip to Yellowstone and I was hoping to have a morning (or day) to do a little fishing. My problem is I have little to no experience with fishing other than bass fishing we do in Texas. I really would love for my daughter to catch some trout. I wouldn't mind using a guide if it wasn't to expensive and they were kid friendly. I guess what I am getting at is I am lost on how to go about it. Any suggestions thoughts or recommendations would be great!
Thanks

[rbtglove]

My biggest problem is trying to figure out where you can fish and what you could use at each place, lot of catch and release. One time went out on the big lake but never caught anything small!! enough we could keep.Last time we hired a boat in Grand Tetons and went Lake trout, fishing caught some nice fish the guide did all the work.

[newk]

Thanks for posting that, 2gypsies. Mostly pretty simple to understand regs.

I haven't fished Yellowstone in 20 years, but it was the site of one of my most memorable fishing trips. (Stop here unless you want to read about fishin an finaglin.)

A good fishing buddy of mine and I were fly fishing on the Yellowstone. It's got great fish but is crowded to the max. The Russian River on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula during the red salmon run used to be close, but this was crazy, as in, wait for someone to give up his space, then take it.

The brown trout were splashing all across and up and down the river. But NO ONE was catching a thing, not even with all their fancy new L.L. Bean vests, waders and fly rods. (Sorry, but some of us "locals" have to chuckle at high fashion fishing dudes now and then.)

We knew there had to be a hatch in progress, so we waded the shore enough to find the bug that was causing all the ruckus, gathered one up and took it to the TC (25 feet away), where we each had a fly tying kit, and tied up our versions of the bug. (Big difference between his and mine, btw.)

We walked back to the shore, waded out a few feet and each cast our lines. POW! We both had immediate hits. Nice fish, around 20". We landed them, set them free (then legal), cast again, and the same thing happened. It wasn't long before we had 20 fishermen crowded around us trying to see what flies we were using. Some asked. My buddy gave our flies names and told them we'd gotten them at a fly shop down the road 10-20 miles. (Snicker)

We had the whole river to ourselves! Well, compared to what it had been. We each landed 15-20 in the next half hour, then took off (in the other direction) before the Bean Brigade once again descended on us! LOL (I was just NASTY in my youth!)

[2gypsies1]

It's really important to follow the park's fishing regulations. The fines are big.

Fishing Information for Yellowstone

[j3ff9ack]

narcodog wrote:
I just fly fish so I'm not familiar with the spin fishing regs. I'll say this a permit for 7 days is about $25.00 and Montana 7 days is about $30.00.
The Madison is a fly fishing stream only, as are other streams. There are several areas that are set aside for youth. The fishing is awesome in the LaMar and Slough Creek.

If you want to hire a guide I could recommend Bob Jacklin's or Blue Ribbon Flies both are top notch shops in West Yellowstone. Bob Jacklin sells spin equipment and would be a shop where I would send a spin fisherman. He also works well with kids.

If you decide to try fly fishing both shops have rental equipment.

The price of a guide will depend on if it's a float trip or walk and wade, half day or full. They will tailor your day to your experience.

I second the suggestion to check with Bob Jacklin in West Yellowstone - he can give you good advice about fishing with kids in the area regardless of equipment or style.

Jacklin's Fly Shop

[donkeydew]

if you are planning to bank fish bring your own rock, because some will be stand on all the others

[DeanRIowa]

narcodog wrote:
Some of the Yellowstone river through Hayden Valley is closed to fishing,so watch the signs. They have changed some of the regs in the last year so be sure to get a copy. They are very aggressive on enforcement throughout the Park.

Thank you for the heads up on restrictions/closures.

[narcodog]

DeanRIowa wrote:
We will be staying at Fishing Bridge Campground, and I was thinking of taking kids fishing. I noticed a few pull outs in Hayden Valley along the Yellowstone river and thought of trying there. Also I thought of trying duck lake as well. Like everyone I want easy access, and I am most interested in safety.

I will be using normal fishing equipment and not fly rods.

Any thoughts or hints?

Dean

Some of the Yellowstone river through Hayden Valley is closed to fishing,so watch the signs. They have changed some of the regs in the last year so be sure to get a copy. They are very aggressive on enforcement throughout the Park.

[DeanRIowa]

We will be staying at Fishing Bridge Campground, and I was thinking of taking kids fishing. I noticed a few pull outs in Hayden Valley along the Yellowstone river and thought of trying there. Also I thought of trying duck lake as well. Like everyone I want easy access, and I am most interested in safety.

I will be using normal fishing equipment and not fly rods.

Any thoughts or hints?

Dean

[katleman]

Much of Yellowstone is catch and release for native species—cutthroat trout, grayling and whitefish—caught must be immediately released unharmed.

As was mentioned earlier, lake trout are on the catch and eat plan, as many as you want.

[Bearsfanatic85]

I got a good tip for you, With bass you need to set the hook, don't do that with trout or your lure will come sailing back at you with some lips attached! Let the rod and drag do the work

[kknowlton]

You can also rent boats & hire a fishing guide at Bridge Bay to take you out on Yellowstone Lake. Catch all the lake trout you want - and don't throw any back in!! Report your catch to the rangers afterwards. (Lake trout were introduced some years ago and NPS is trying to take as many out as possible before all the native cutthroat are completely gone.)

[2gypsies1]

A guarantee to catch fish in Yellowstone is hard to come by. There are a lot of regulations as to where you can fish and there are a lot of folks out there trying in the same locations. The best is if you have waders and can get into the streams. If your daughter succeeds that's wonderful. Good luck and be sure to go by all the regulations.

[narcodog]

I just fly fish so I'm not familiar with the spin fishing regs. I'll say this a permit for 7 days is about $25.00 and Montana 7 days is about $30.00.
The Madison is a fly fishing stream only, as are other streams. There are several areas that are set aside for youth. The fishing is awesome in the LaMar and Slough Creek.

If you want to hire a guide I could recommend Bob Jacklin's or Blue Ribbon Flies both are top notch shops in West Yellowstone. Bob Jacklin sells spin equipment and would be a shop where I would send a spin fisherman. He also works well with kids.

If you decide to try fly fishing both shops have rental equipment.

The price of a guide will depend on if it's a float trip or walk and wade, half day or full. They will tailor your day to your experience.

[Jayco-noslide]

I believe YNP has it's own license which is a lot less than a Montana out of state license. I'm far from an expert but I never had much luck in the Park just casting some spinner baits, etc. I don't think live bait is allowed and there is a lot of fishing pressure where the rivers are easily accessable. I did catch some rainbow in the Yellowstone River not far from Gardiner, walking west down the river on the Park side. Might be better to hire a guide and fish outside the Park. Ask in the sporting stores in the towns.