Yellowstone River | Lamar Drainage | Gardner River | Madison Drainage | Small Streams | Stillwaters

Stillwaters, Lakes, and Ponds

1. Introduction

2. Description and Access

3. Angling

    Hatch and Pattern Chart

    Top Flies

Introduction

        While Yellowstone's streams generally have fish in them, with the exceptions being streams with chemical or geothermal inputs which trout cannot survive, most lakes within the Park are fishless.  There are two primary reasons: first, because trout are not stocked in the Park they require lakes and ponds to have suitable spawning habitat, usually an inlet and outlet with gravel.  Second, many lakes are simply too shallow or otherwise unsuitable as habitat even for stocked fish.  More lakes in the Beartooth Mountains at the extreme northeastern edge of our area of operations have fish, since the state of Montana stocks them on occasion, but even here there are many fishless stillwaters.  Your best option is to check with an area fly shop to ensure the lake you plan to fish actually has any quarry for you besides mosquitoes and salamanders.

        The stillwaters that do have fish vary widely, ranging from the enormous Yellowstone Lake to beaver ponds one stumbles across while fishing small streams. 

Description and Access

        As noted, Yellowstone's ponds, lakes, and stillwaters that hold fish display a great deal of variety.  The largest, Yellowstone, Lewis, and Shoshone Lakes, can fish well for a wading angler, but many people choose to use a boat.  Access to the first two lakes is excellent, with boat ramps and numerous points where a wading angler may find access, but Shoshone Lake must be reached by hiking or by unpowered boat, since motors are prohibited there and there are no roads on its shores, making it the largest lake in the Lower 48 without road access.  Boating permits can be purchased in Mammoth.  They are required for float-tubing as well as for larger craft.

        Many of Yellowstone's lakes are accessed by hikes, ranging from the steep but short scramble to Trout Lake to the eight-mile odyssey required to reach Heart Lake.  These backcountry lakes range in size from a handful to several thousand acres (in the case of Heart Lake), and feature every fish species found in Yellowstone save whitefish.  In addition to permanent ponds, there are also a variety of spring marshes and beaver ponds in Yellowstone that classify as stillwaters, though all are technically slow-moving stretches of creek.

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Angling

        The angling in Yellowstone lakes varies greatly depending on elevation, lake size, and fish types.  Low-elevation lakes typically fish best early and late in the season, while high-elevation lakes like Yellowstone Lake and Grebe Lake may continue to fish throughout the summer.  Lakes with cutthroat and grayling will generally fish better through the summer than lakes with brown and lake trout.  Both are more-easily caught in spring and fall, regardless of lake elevation.  Brook trout lakes vary primarily depending on elevation.  Be aware that many lakes in Yellowstone are frozen when the season opens, and some are closed, so check regulations.  Spring holes and beaver ponds typically fish better early and late in the season, though access through marshy areas may be difficult.

        Most lakes fish better using subsurface flies than dries, with Traveling Caddis and Callibaetis hatches the noted early-midsummer exceptions and occasional terrestrial fishing making things interesting in late summer.  The higher the elevation, the more important terrestrials can be.  Emerging midges can be important at any time, especially on smaller ponds.  Brook trout in lakes are suckers for the Joffe Jewel attractor streamer, while trout in other locations are more likely to fall for scuds, leeches, and damselfly nymphs.  Spring marshes and beaver ponds typically fish better with midge imitations, wet flies, and smaller patterns in general.

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