Does anyone here have Information on the GALLATIN River in Montana??

[danme]

Hi all, Im planning a Vacation/Fishing trip to Montana (BOZEMAN) next year and I was wondering if anyone had any Information (BESIDES WHATS ON THE NET) on the GALLATIN River. I really dont want to hire a guide and I dont want a float trip. From what I can gather the Gallatin River is one of the only rivers in Montana (BESIDES THE SPRING CREEKS) that is wadeable throughout the whole river system (No Drift Boat needed).

The info Im looking for is

1) First and Foremost Accessibility to the river (Dont want to get arrested for trespassing)

2) A hatch chart for insect activity between April and September -- Most noteably June and July

3) A Good point of contact -- ie: A local Fly Shop who would be willing to help out a tourist. I know most locals dont care about outsiders because they know repeat business probably will not be there.

4) If someone would be so kind as to give me a GOOD PATTERN for the Infamous "SALMON FLY" --- The biggest stone fly I have personally ever heard of -- It is my understanding that when these Stone Flies hatch a size 4 hook isn't out of the question but is the "NORM" If anyone who has read this post has ever seen and or fished this hatch any information regarding this fly would be greatly appreciated.

One thing I forgot to mention -- If anyone is interested in making this trip with me -- I FLY FREE and I would be willing to give out Buddy Passes to the right Person/people -- So Airfare would be next to nothing for anyone who is serious about going :beer: .

I'm always looking to help out my fellow Fly Fishermen and meet and fish with new people

Thanks In Advance

Peace
Dan

 

[WBDluver]

A good book to get is the Montana Angling Guide. Full of maps etc. i would also go to Blue Ribbon Flies, Dan Baileys but any shop will be helpful. They want you to come back and fish their area and are willing to help

 

[danme]

Thanks WBD -- Any suggestions on a Book -- In the meantime I will look for a Book on the Gallatin and surrounding area

peace
Dan

 

[Rusty Spinner]

danme - meet me on the lower Musky the weekend of the 21st. My river restoration specialist, Joe Urbani of Urbani Fisheries will be out then and he's a regular on the Gallatin and would be more than happy to help out a fellow TUer. Joe did all the fish work for A River Runs Through It, but that is irrelevant. He's a wealth of knowledge on that and other MT rivers where he's lived and fished for decades.

 

[danme]

Brian

Thanks so much -- I will definately be there -- It sounds like your friend is just what the doctor ordered so to speak. Thanks so very much Brian Im in-debted to you -- Again you have proven beyond a shodow of a doubt that you are a plethora of information -- If you can P.M. with exactly where you will be and what time to be there. Also do I need to bring anything to help out on the restoration project -- Such as tools -- Shovels rakes etc.etc. I will ask for the night off from work on Wed so I can be there on the 21st.

Again thanks Brian

Peace
Dan

 

[WBDluver]

The title is "The Montana Angling Guide"

 

[danme]

Thanks WBD -- I will look it up -- Any info will be great since I really want to do this without a guide -- I get a lot more satisfaction from figureing out a stream and whats going on without the help of a guide -- I may not catch as many fish in the begining of my trip as I would with a guide -- But In my heart I know I figured it out and I caught the fish on my own -- It adds to the challenge and to my overall experience. Besides that aspect of it -- I kind of enjoy reading the water and trying to use my brain and knowledge to fool the trout. I also dont like a guide wading out 35 feet to net my fish -- I would much rather bring the fish to my boots and release him -- knowing I played him out and he didn't breal off

Again Thanks for the Info on the book WBD

Peace
Dan

 

[Rusty Spinner]

If you can P.M. with exactly where you will be and what time to be there. Also do I need to bring anything to help out on the restoration project -- Such as tools -- Shovels rakes etc.etc. I will ask for the night off from work on Wed so I can be there on the 21st.

Will do. We're working on a private property near the mouth of the D where we removed 3 remnant dams (a Musky Watershed Assoc. project) last year days before the floods. 14 big trees wound up stuck on one of our structures and we need to chainsaw them up and remove them and restore one point bar that blew out as a result of the trees redirecting the river in this stretch. I'll figure out the address and PM you with it. Most of the work is being done with a big Cat track machine other than the chainsaw work that yours truly needs to do while the big machine picks up these large trees and their rootwads to let me cut them into manageable sizes.

 

[danme]

NO problem Brian -- Just PM and I will be there -- I'll bring my Waders with me so At least I can carry out limbs and such if needed

Again thanks

 

[skipper3245]

Ok here is a rundown

Gallatin river in June/july..will not happen. It will be in full runoff during most of the period. It is one of the first to blow and last to clear up besides the yellowstone. If you want to fish the gallatin only go there in august. During this time you can wake up at 6am and fish spruce moths until noon and then switch to caddis/hoppers/ants whatever really those fish are stupid over there. If you like to dry fly fish this is the time to go. September you will start seeing some browns coming in from the missouri lower in the river. If you go up there in May you will most likely run into some colder weather, but less pressure. August there will be a good amount of pressure but nothing like you see around here.

If you want to run into the salmonfly hatch there are a few different ways to do it, but it is so hard to time this hatch and you need perfect conditions. The madison river will be the first to hatch around mid to late june and you will see them on the lower madison around warm springs. this is a very wadeable river, but the releases will rise the further into june/july you go. the upper madison I would just stay away from..it is combat fishing during this hatch and all summer. One section to hit if you can get to is between hebgan and quake lake. It is high pressure, but if you can get to the other side it will be the best fishing you have on your trip I promise. Around the same time (late june) the gallatin will start to hatch but I really do not reccomend going near that river this time of year since the river gets 30 times as big as normal flows. The yellowstone river drainage will hatch last about forth of july or a bit earlier. If the river is cleared up find out from the guides where the hatch is and go there. All the fish will be on the bank anyway and is east to fish from shore.

The only way I fish the salmonfly hatch now is in yellowstone park. They will work all the way up the yellowstone and up through slough creek, lamar creek, gardner river, indian creek. Since the hatch starts in paradise valley it wont hit the park until late july early august. Meaning that you can fish salmonfly dries and hoppers at the same time and being that they are about the same size you have a crazy time. For dries I fish a chubby chernobyl or a large stimmy and nymphs wise a king prince or girdle bug will do just fine.

Fishing the salmon fly hatch is a tough thing to figure out since there are many factors. Pressure is a huge one being that everyone in the country wants to fish this hatch and many..many people come out to do this. The way around it is to fish above the hatch with nymphs. If you fish behind the hatch you should go about three days back from when the hatch was there since the fish are so full they do not want to touch another bug but again less pressure.

If you are set on the salmon fly hatch I would go out late june/early july, but I have seen montana not fishable this time of year and dont want that to ruin your trip. I would do early fall when the rivers are down and safe to wade and the crowds are gone.

A few other places to look into

east gallatin
shields river
stillwater
cougar creek
osprey creek
duck creek

Hope this helps

 

[danme]

Thanks Skipper -- The Salmon Fly hatch isnt that important to me -- Just read alot about it over the years -- Sounds like August Sept is the time to go If Im reading your post correctly -- I am flexible as far as the time to go -- I dont need to make plane reservations because I wil fly Standby and free so thats NBD to me -- I did plan on hitting the Yelowstone and the Madison while I was there -- But since I was flying Into Bozeman the Gallatin would be the more local stream.

Thank you so very much for the Info Skipper -- I very much appreciate all the good advice you shared with me here. Like I said I have until next year to plan and figure this out to maximize my success and or failure for this trip. Hopefully it will be a success -- Any and all Info/advice is more than wekcome -- Im really looking forward to this trip and hopefully quite a few more. In fact -- Im planning a Fly Fishing Trip every year starting Next Season out west -- But MONTANA has been my dream since Im very very young -- Eventually after I've done Montana 4 0r 5 years in a row -- I want to hit Oregon and Idaho and Wyoming -- Not Necessarily in that order. Again Thanks -- I hope you dont mind as this trip gets closer if I pick your Brain with questions that I may have -- Let me know -- I dont want to be a Pain in the ass to you either


Peace
Dan

 

[BIGBOW]

Hey Dan,
Dont want to contradict what Skipper said cuz he's got some good info, but I was out on the Gallatin a few years back in July and had a great trip. Granted it was late July, but the river fished good. First fished Henry's Fork and some smaller creeks in Idaho then stayed in the Park for a week and fished the Madison (my biggest brown to date), the Lamer, Soda Butte, Slough Creek, and the Gibbon. Tried the Yellowstone, but it was too high. The Gallatin wasnt that fast at all near the Big Sky area off highway 191. The Castle Rock area where A River Runs Through It was filmed is worth a stop. Definitely dont need a guide, but it could help. There was a nice brewery in Big Sky for lunch as well as fly shops and a few good spots in Bozeman too. I stayed at an awesome log cabin that the forest service used to occupy for about $25 a night in Gallatin Nat'l Forest. I highly recommend it if u dont mind playing little house on the prairie (no water, electric, and an outhouse). I'll pm you if need want more info. Great destination and if the rivers too high, you have plenty to keep you busy in a few hours radius.

 

[skipper3245]

late july can be good, but last year I was not guiding until early august on the undammed rivers due to unsafe conditions

 

[flyI4]

If your going out to bozeman I would focus on a couple other streams before the gallatin, I lived out there for a while and at first got steered towards the gallatin, but soon realized there were several better options in the area. The gallatin is a tough river to wade regardless of flow, its rocky pocket water. It also has a lot of small fish, though there are big fish mixed in like everywhere out there. Here a few suggestions that I think are better alternatives

East gallatin------> Spring creek fishing just outside of bozeman in the town of belgrade. Nice wading, more pools that are fun for dry fly fishing, and many large fish lurking in all water types. Definitely give this a try, I rarely saw other fisherman and saw a ton of nice fish.

Bear trap canyon-----> flows and temps over there are always a factor, but its a beautiful setting, has a ton of water regardless of crowds and holds good numbers of fish.

Shields river----->just outside of livingston, its a trib of the yellowstone thats probably 30-40 ft wide in most parts ,but a lot of great holding water. The stream really surprised me with the amount of large fish it held for smaller water, and I never saw another fisherman. Hyde park is the town you'll find it in(30 minutes from bozeman)

Theres also a little trib in the town of bozeman I can point you to that holds monster fish and is a fun hike as well. Send me a PM if interested.

 

[skipper3245]

East gallatin is for sure a gem but you wont get much info on that. Guides and shops will be brief since it is not very well known. giant browns in this river

bear trap would be a good place to be during salmon fly hatches just be wary of rattlesnakes, poison ivy and bears..especially rattlesnakes.

He is right about the shields...huge huge fish in there

 

[dibling]

Bear Trap Canyon was my first fly fishing trip a year and a half ago. I fished it in late October and only saw two other anglers over the the course of a couple of days. It was an awesome experience, but windy as hell. As a day one retard, I caught fish.

On the trip, we also hit the Gallatin, but didn't hook up with any fish as the water was very low and the fish were spooky. There's a long path along the stream just inside Yellowstone north of Gardiner called Boiling River (Boiling River | Gardiner Montana Hot Spring Trails | Trails.com).

There's parking and you can walk up the river at least a mile or two, which will get you away from the crowds and into less ultra-rocky water. As you walk upriver past the boiling spring portion, there's often a bikini hatch, so that's a nice touch.

 

[danme]

Hey Dan,
Dont want to contradict what Skipper said cuz he's got some good info, but I was out on the Gallatin a few years back in July and had a great trip. Granted it was late July, but the river fished good. First fished Henry's Fork and some smaller creeks in Idaho then stayed in the Park for a week and fished the Madison (my biggest brown to date), the Lamer, Soda Butte, Slough Creek, and the Gibbon. Tried the Yellowstone, but it was too high. The Gallatin wasnt that fast at all near the Big Sky area off highway 191. The Castle Rock area where A River Runs Through It was filmed is worth a stop. Definitely dont need a guide, but it could help. There was a nice brewery in Big Sky for lunch as well as fly shops and a few good spots in Bozeman too. I stayed at an awesome log cabin that the forest service used to occupy for about $25 a night in Gallatin Nat'l Forest. I highly recommend it if u dont mind playing little house on the prairie (no water, electric, and an outhouse). I'll pm you if need want more info. Great destination and if the rivers too high, you have plenty to keep you busy in a few hours radius.

Yes definately PM me with your info -- Any Info wil be greatly appreciated -- Thanks in advance

Dan

 

[ajfromnj]

The west all depends on snow. I'm in Utah right now and there isn't much of it. Last year was different.

I don't think anywhere got a ton of snow this year. If you are going to the Gallitan, if you have 18" inches of visability you are all set. Use some kind of big stone fly and a small hot spot fly. There are mostly smallish rainbows there with some nicer browns mixed in. It's an easy river to fish with lots of them. You'll have fun if you have water clarity.

 

[skipper3245]

yellowstone river basin is just about 100% and they are still getting snow. I would expect a normal run off this year