Yellowstone River Precipitation Update

We’re feeling pretty optimistic about a good water year, and great fishing, on the Yellowstone River this summer. The amount of water in the river in August depends heavily on the amount of snow accumulated in the high mountains over the winter – the “snowpack.” Last year’s snowpack was a bit low, and the low river flows in the late summer admittedly hurt the fishing. See Paul Weamer’s post on preparing for your Yellowstone River fishing trip for more information on snowpack.

This year, the situation’s looking better. March snowstorms have boosted the snowpack in the Yellowstone River basin to near the historical average. That’s good news! A “normal” year of river flows would be most welcome. Of course, with Mother Nature involved, there are still a bunch of variables, including how quickly the weather warms up this spring. But the early signs are positive.

Looking across the state of Montana, that optimism persists. Nearly all of the major river basins in the state, including the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson, are at near normal snowpack levels. There should be plenty of summer flows for your Montana fly fishing expedition this summer, regardless of where in the state it takes you. Quite the change from last year.

So plan on visiting us this summer. There are no guarantees in fly fishing, but there’s reason to believe that the Yellowstone River (and other fisheries in the area) will be fishing well throughout the summer.