Yellowstone Angler

Yellowstone Angler floats the prime water of the Yellowstone River between Gardiner and Big Timber, choosing among many stretches according to conditions and flows. Gardiner down to Yankee Jim Canyon is fast, with Class II and III rapids, moderate numbers of rainbows and cutthroat and a few large browns. Tom Miner Bridge to Emigrant runs strong pocket water that eases into slower pools. Emigrant to Mallard’s Rest mixes big pools with fishable banks and holds numbers of large brown trout. Mallard’s Rest to Carter’s Bridge and the town stretch from Carter’s Bridge to the Highway 89 Bridge favor rainbows in quick water, while the reaches from the Highway 89 Bridge toward Columbus hold bigger fish under lighter pressure. Guides row Mackenzie-style drift boats and stop often to wade the better runs on a river that varies from seventy-five to three hundred feet across. Salmonflies come off in the canyon water and the Gardiner reach in early to mid July, and hoppers carry the late summer.