Share your catch
US

Bighorn River Fishing Report

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

The tailwater that never has a bad year: 5,000 trout per mile in the first thirteen miles below Yellowtail Dam.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Flow
1,940 cfs
Air / High
71 / 72 F
Wind
WSW 15 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 06294500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Tap a marker for today's tip
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.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Bighorn River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 1,940 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 15 mph, falling pressure near 999 hPa and a high of 72. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:47 AM-11:47 AM and 10:17 PM-12:17 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: Cooler 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 Bighorn River ab Tullock Cr nr Bighorn MT.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 06294500.

1,8121,8901,9681,940 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 81 years of October 23

At 1,940 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 06294500 (Bighorn River ab Tullock Cr nr Bighorn MT) is at the 19th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 81 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 3,150 cfs; the highest was 7,100 cfs and the lowest 1,120 cfs.

p10 1,460median 3,150p90 4,754

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 06294500; 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 temp71 F
High / Low72 / 38 F
WindWSW 15-22 mph
Pressure999.1 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 37%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:09
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 Bighorn River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Bighorn River, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:47 AM-11:47 AM and 10:17 PM-12:17 AM
Minor period
4:11 AM-5:11 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:09
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 22 mph
Rain chance
37%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Bighorn 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 Bighorn 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 Bighorn River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 7 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 70 F, wind to 4 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 64 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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. Trout: catch-and-release strongly encouraged, current limits per FWP Bighorn rules. Access limited to designated public sites within the Crow Reservation: no bank trespass.

Access

Afterbay, 3-Mile (Lind), 13-Mile (Bighorn) FAS ramps. Fort Smith has fly shops, shuttles and lodging; book shuttles ahead in peak season.

About this water

Tailwater of Yellowtail Dam, Fort Smith, MT. ~13 premier miles on the Crow Reservation. 3,000-5,000 trout/mile; managed by Montana FWP.

Fishing Bighorn River: the full guide

A river with a thermostat

The Bighorn below Yellowtail Dam runs cold, clear and stable through Montana's high-plains heat: Afterbay releases hold the trout water at ideal temperatures year-round. That stability packs the first 13 miles (Fort Smith to Bighorn Access) with trout densities few rivers on Earth match: three to five thousand browns and rainbows per mile, averaging 15-17 inches.

Small flies, heavy fish

This is a biomass river: sowbugs, scuds and midges around the clock, baetis in spring and fall, black caddis in August, hoppers on the banks in high summer. The standard program floats Fort Smith's 3-Mile to 13-Mile takeouts nymphing tiny bugs under indicators; streamer anglers pull the banks for the big browns; dry-fly purists live for the fall baetis afternoons when pods rise in the flats.

Fort Smith practicality

The fishery runs through the Crow Reservation: access is at the state sites (Afterbay, 3-Mile, Bighorn), floating between them, and river tribs and banks are otherwise closed: respect it. Flow changes from the dam reshape the river year to year: check the release level (this page tracks it) before planning wading vs floating.

Common questions

Why does the Bighorn hold so many trout?

Stable cold flows and a conveyor belt of food: the dam smooths out floods and droughts while sowbugs and scuds reproduce endlessly in the fertile water. Stability plus calories equals density.

Do I need a guide or shuttle?

Not a guide (wade access at the three sites is real), but floaters need shuttles: Fort Smith shops run them daily. First trip with a guide accelerates the small-fly learning curve dramatically.

What flows are best?

Roughly 2,500-3,500 cfs is the sweet spot: wadeable edges, defined seams. Above 7,000 it becomes a boat river with fish on the banks. The current release is on this page: check it before you commit.

Is fishing good at Bighorn River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Bighorn Lake77 miBighorn Lake93 miFort Peck Lake114 miBoulder River123 miYellowstone River152 miGallatin River193 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 06294500 β€” Bighorn River ab Tullock Cr nr Bighorn MT
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 46.1550, -107.4745 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.