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Beaverhead River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Montana's big-brown conveyor: a brushy tailwater ribbon below Clark Canyon where 20-inch fish are the average, not the story.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
185 cfs
Air / High
48 / 49 F
Wind
NW 14 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 06018500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Beaverhead River asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. The river is running 185 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 14 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 49. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:38 PM-12:38 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 47 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Montana requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $31.00 for residents. What a Montana licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with FWP before you keep anything. The season dates for Montana, read off the agency, are on the Montana seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Beaverhead River near Twin Bridges.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 06018500.

98144190185 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 82 years of October 23

At 185 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 06018500 (Beaverhead River near Twin Bridges) is at the 7th percentile for the date: much below normal. In half of the 82 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 381 cfs; the highest was 1,280 cfs and the lowest 37 cfs.

p10 212median 381p90 710

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 06018500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp48 F
High / Low49 / 34 F
WindNW 14-22 mph
Pressure1008.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset07:57 / 18:30
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Beaverhead River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Beaverhead River, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:38 PM-12:38 AM
Minor period
4:33 AM-5:33 AM
Sun
07:57 to 18:30
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 17 mph
Rain chance
100%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Beaverhead River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Beaverhead River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Beaverhead River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 68 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 67 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Montana requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Montana license + AIS pass. Standard limits with artificial preferences upstream: check FWP.

Access

Clark Canyon Dam, Barretts, Henneberry, Pipe Organ, Dillon town accesses.

About this water

69 tailwater miles from Clark Canyon Dam past Dillon, Beaverhead County, MT. The brown-trout density king.

Fishing Beaverhead River: the full guide

The trophy tailwater

The Beaverhead below Clark Canyon Dam holds Montana's highest density of large brown trout: a narrow, willow-choked ribbon where the average fish runs 17-20 inches and 25s surprise no one. It is not scenic-Montana fishing: it is combat fishing in brush: short casts, heavy tippet, fish that bulldog for the roots.

How the river fishes

Float it: the brush makes wading marginal: pounding the banks with cranefly larvae, sowbugs and San Juans early, hoppers tight to the willows in August (the Beaverhead hopper eat is violent), streamers on cloudy days. The upper miles (dam to Barretts) carry the density: below Dillon the river relaxes and browns mix with rainbows.

Flows rule everything

Irrigation drives the Beaverhead: summer flows run high for hay (600-800 CFS: the float fishing thrives), winter drops skinny. The famous years follow full reservoirs: check Clark Canyon storage and our gauge trend before planning. Low-water autumns concentrate fish spectacularly: and demand gentle handling ethics.

Dillon basecamp

Dillon anchors the fishery: fly shops with real reports, shuttles, and ranch-country access at the fishing-access sites (Barretts, Henneberry, Pipe Organ). The Big Hole runs 30 minutes north: the two-river Dillon trip is southwest Montana's classic week.

Common questions

How big are Beaverhead browns really?

Surveys back the legend: more 18-plus-inch browns per mile than any Montana river. The average fish here would headline a week elsewhere.

Do I need a boat for the Beaverhead?

Effectively yes on the prime upper water: the willows own the banks. Wade pockets exist near accesses, but the river was made for maneuvering oars and short brutal casts.

Is fishing good at Beaverhead River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Big Hole River22 miClark Canyon Reservoir27 miMadison River40 miEnnis Lake43 miJefferson River63 miGallatin River67 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 06018500 β€” Beaverhead River near Twin Bridges
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 45.3250, -112.5600 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.