Yellowstone River
Available Trips For
Yellowstone River
Paradise Valley lives up to its name! Stretching from Gardner, Montana to Livingston, MT, Paradise Valley is considered one of the most beautiful places to float and catch Trout On The Fly. In this 60 mile stretch, high numbers of Yellowstone Cutthroats populate the upper section near Yankee Jim Canyon. The upper section is well known for its prolific salmon fly hatch, starting in mid to late June. Mother Nature timed this hatch perfectly, occurring shortly after runoff and post-spawn, making these trout ready to feed! From Emigrant, Montana to Livingston, the Yellowstone offers a variety of species – rainbows, browns, cutthroats, cutbows and mountain whitefish. The Yellowstone River’s fishing season typically starts later than tailwaters like the Madison, Bighorn, and Missouri Rivers because it lacks dammed reservoirs that allow sediment to settle or dissipate.
The region from Livingston, Montana downriver to Columbus, Montana may not be as scenic, but it makes up for it with larger than average brown trout! This stretch of river offers outstanding terrestrial fly fishing because the river cuts through miles of hay fields loaded with grasshoppers. The structure is similar to the upper Yellowstone with long distinct runs, deep pools, and cut banks, all great habitats for trout.
Fishing the Yellowstone River with the jet boat is a great way to make several passes through long runs holding numerous amounts of fish. In a typical drift boat, that run would only be drifted by once. The jet boat gives you ample opportunities to make the perfect drag free drift! If you get tangled up on one pass through a good run don’t worry, we will motor back up and do it again! All our jet boat trips on the Yellowstone River are downriver of Livingston, Montana, below Highway 89 bridge. All our jet boat trips on the Yellowstone are based on river conditions.
River Discharge
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Hatch Chart
- “Sam C. was an excellent guide. He had the perfect ability to read our abilities and inabilities and put us into water where we could catch nice fish. We went to three very different sections of the local rivers to keep things interesting, try different water, and enjoy all the beauty the Bozeman area had to show us. Sam met us nice and early, was a nice guy to talk to for several hours a day, and put in a lot of hard work very quietly to make sure we had a really enjoyable time. Very highly recommend Trout on the Fly and Sam in particular if you are lucky enough to get him as a guide for your time here!“
- “Best Montana fly-fishing trip ever! Jarrett and Drew were incredible! Drew hooked my 13 year old boys into a ton of fish (and big ones!), but more importantly, was super personable and fun. They loved their time with him and are still talking about him three days later (and telling his hilarious, but clean, jokes! :). He was awesome and was the difference maker in them liking fly-fishing and getting them hooked. Thank you, Drew! Jarrett was outstanding. My pops is slowing down and Jarrett was incredibly helpful every step of the way - patient with every tangle and kind to my dad the whole time. He never showed a single ounce of irritation. He was friendly, professional, and made all the difference in the world. And...we had two epic days of fishing! Huge fish, tons of trout on the Madison, my lifetime biggest/best brown trout - it was awesome. My dad and I likely don't have a lot of time left to do this sort of thing, and Jarrett's guiding made this memorable and meaningful. He was awesome and everything we could ask for in a guide. Also, he's just a genuinely good guy. We've fished in the area with several other outfitters, but the next time we come here we will only use Trout on the Fly and specifically ask for Jarrett and Drew. We've never had an experience this good. Please give them a sincere thank you from my whole family and I. We loved our time on the river with you guys, and we'll see you next time!“
- “Trout on the Fly was an amazing fly fishing experience for our entire family especially for our 2 grand boys who are 10 and 14 years old…. After the recommendation from a friend in North Carolina who has previously used Trout on the Fly guide service, I contacted owner Nate Stevane and he was very informative and responsive with all of our questions and concerns about planning and arrangements for our family fishing vacation… After meeting up with our guides, Jarrett, Terran and Drew we were given the basics of fly fishing and throughout the 2 days of drift fishing on the Yellowstone River our skills improved immensely with the instruction of our wonderful guides… This was definitely a highlight for our family vacation…. Trout on the Fly is definitely the guide service to book for your Fly Fishing adventures!“
- “Our guide Jake S. was awesome! So knowledgeable and friendly. He was very punctual picking us up and made sure we felt comfortable going out on the water and returned us home safely afterwards. Nate was super responsive over email too in helping us coordinate details prior to our excursion date. Overall highly recommend!“
- “Hey Nate!! Booking with Trout on the Fly was one of the easiest processes, and Nate was super responsive with my questions and setting up the trip. Absolutely everything is taken care of by the team, and I'm fully confident you could walk out of the airport and straight onto a fly trip if you needed to. They provided everything you could need, which was reassuring just in case our fly gear didn't make it on the plane. We booked a full-day trip, which I'd recommend for those with fly fishing experience! Sam was a great guide with great taste in music. He communicated well and was on time with pickup and drop-off! He was super knowledgeable about the flys to use and which fish were going to be around. Since we booked for later in the season, there were a few changes to which fish were around, and he was able to adjust our trip route based on what was going on! Thank you so much again for a great trip!!! Sarah“