The following report is by Yellowstone Country Fly Fishing in Livingston:
This NO BS Livingston Montana fishing report is valid from October 5 through about October 15, 2025.
We finally got some fall weather in the past couple days! Rain yesterday and snow today. Water temperatures are plummeting. BWO are hatching. FINALLY.
It’s going to warm up again late this coming week, but only to the high 60s or very low 70s depending on location. This won’t be enough to shift things back to the weird late summer mode we were in for almost all of September. There will be better and worse fishing days through October, but they will all be fall fishing days.
We’re updating all the detailed reports today and tomorrow to match this big change.
General Comments
Fall fishing is underway. This means that the small waters, the high-elevation waters, and the grasshoppers are now basically done until next summer. By contrast, the geothermal waters, the rivers that see brown trout runs, the BWO hatches, and the streamer fishing are all now kicking into high gear for the last hurrah of the high fishing season.
Unless you’re chasing fall browns, don’t bother starting before 10:00 or 11:00 except maybe on the geyser-heated Firehole River or the Paradise Valley spring creeks. Hatches and active fish will be most common from lunchtime until sometime between 4:00 and 5:00, when a switch gets thrown and the fishing ends for the day.
The Details
The Yellowstone River: Fishing has shifted gears over the past couple days. While you might still get a fish to nose a hopper, this will now be the exception rather than the rule. The best fishing tactic is to throw a streamer/dropper combo in the morning, then switch to a big dry (#12 or #14 Royal Wulff Cripple) trailing a BWO or Purple Hazy Cripple in #18. You can also nymph with a big orange-beaded Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle with a BWO nymph on the back. This will rack up the numbers, but most of those numbers will be whitefish in most areas.
The Boulder River will fish similarly to the Yellowstone. Stick to the lower river, as up high it will be ice water.
The lower Madison River is still weedy, but picking up quickly. Strip streamers, swing soft hackles, and watch for BWO hatches.
The Stillwater River is too low to float except in an ultralight raft or a 10-foot whitewater boat, in other words something you can drag at every riffle without too much frustration. Fish similar flies as on the Yellowstone.
The Missouri River is a long way from here and still warm and weedy. The BWO here will be better the later into October we get, even into November.
Montana Small Streams are too low and cold now.
Local Lakes and Reservoirs have turned on in a big way, especially the private lakes. Beware of dying weeds. Fish leeches and streamers, maybe with a big soft hackle dropper.
The Paradise Valley spring creeks have had some limited midge and Sulphur (cream Baetis) hatches when the wind isn’t annoying, but that has been rare. Look for these bugs at midmorning. The actual BWO hatches should intensify over the next few days.
Yellowstone Park fishing is starting to get limited due to cold water. The Lamar System is done for the year due to low, cold water, as are the small creeks. The upper Yellowstone has very few fish this late in the season, since most move back to Yellowstone Lake. The Yellowstone in the canyons will fish well on streamers on warmer afternoons, and might turn out some BWO and Tan Drake hatches. This fishing will dwindle over the life of this report. The lower Gardner River will see some BWO and Tan Drake hatches, with the better hatches above Boiling River on warmer days and below when things are ugly. The brown trout run is underway, but the pressure has been very high. The poor access makes this worse. The Firehole will have BWO and White Miller caddis hatches above the canyon and some chance of runners below Firehole Falls. Same browns below Gibbon Falls and on the Madison. The heaviest crowds in the park will now be on the Madison. Smaller lakes might fish in the afternoons, especially those holding grayling. Fish leeches. Lewis and Shoshone Lakes should be turning on for lake trout. Don’t hesitate to fish eggs behind your streamers for these fish. The brown trout runs in the Lewis are usually very late-season affairs, so have not really started.
Note: Montana Outdoor‘s website is the only commercial external site authorized to use this content.
