Fishing, Paradise Valley, Montana, USA
The Yellowstone River, Paradise Valley’s most popular fishery carved this beautiful valley. The Yellowstone originates high in the Absaroka Mountains in extreme northern Wyoming. It flows north till the river enters Yellowstone National Park 15 miles from its headwaters and then into the southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake.
About 30 miles downstream of the lake outlet the river flows over the Upper and Lower Falls, through Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, past Tower Falls and then through the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone. The first major tributary is the Lamar River entering just below Tower Junction in Yellowstone Park. The next major tributary, the Gardiner River, enters near the town of Gardiner, MT.
North of Gardiner the river flows through approximately 15 miles of mostly privately owned land and then through Yankee Jim Canyon, a two-mile white-water reach that is within the Gallatin National Forest. While fishing in Paradise you may catch Rainbow, Brown, Yellowstone cutthroat, trout and Whitefish.
Armstrong Spring CreekThe Yellowstone River from the Yellowstone National Park boundary to the I-90 bridge in Billings is open the entire year for fishing. Special seasons do apply within the park.National Forest fishing access sites with boat launching ramps include the McConnel access site 3 miles north of Gardiner, the Corwin Springs access site 6 miles north of Gardiner, and the Joe Brown access site near Yankee Jim Canyon.
The Bureau of Land Management maintains an access site with a boat launch near the Carbella bridge, 1 mile downstream of the canyon. Many other state fishing access sites are located along the river throughout Paradise Valley downstream to Billings.
The Yellowstone River between Gardiner and Livingston hosts an internationally renowned cold-water trout fishery. In 1959, the Montana Fish and Game Commission classified the river from Gardiner, MT to Big Timber, MT as a “Blue Ribbon” fishery. These 103 miles of river 23% of the Blue Ribbon trout water in Montana and is the longest single stretch of Blue Ribbon trout water.
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks currently classify the Yellowstone River between Gardiner and Springdale, including Yankee Jim Canyon, as a Class 1 river according to the current rating system. Class 1 is the highest value rank possible and indicates an exceptional resource based on sport fishery potential, habitat conditions, species composition and other recreational values.
Most fishing in the Yellowstone River below Gardiner is done by boat; however, some bank fishing is possible at many of the fishing access areas.
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