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Gallatin River Fishing Report

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

The wade-fisher's river: 90 canyon-and-meadow miles from Yellowstone to Three Forks, no boats allowed on the best of it.

2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.24 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.
Flow
635 cfs
Air / High
43 / 54 F
Wind
NNE 24 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 06052500, 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.

2/5Slow. The wind owns today.24 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Gallatin River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 635 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNE around 24 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 54. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:03 AM-12:03 PM and 10:34 PM-12:34 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 Gallatin River at Logan MT.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 06052500.

485553621635 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 111 years of October 23

At 635 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 06052500 (Gallatin River at Logan MT) is at the 28th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 111 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 761 cfs; the highest was 1,740 cfs and the lowest 348 cfs.

p10 546median 761p90 1,046

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 06052500; 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 temp43 F
High / Low54 / 33 F
WindNNE 24-34 mph
Pressure1009.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset07:53 / 18:25
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 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Gallatin River this week

The best day on Gallatin River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

24 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Solunar majors
10:03 AM-12:03 PM and 10:34 PM-12:34 AM
Minor period
4:28 AM-5:28 AM
Sun
07:53 to 18:25
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 24 mph
Rain chance
100%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Gallatin 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 Gallatin 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 Gallatin 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 72 F, wind to 9 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 68 F, wind to 8 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. No float fishing from the park boundary through the canyon. Yellowstone Park water upstream requires the separate park permit. Check FWP for reach limits.

Access

US-191 parallels the river with constant pullouts; formal sites at Storm Castle, Greek Creek, Moose Creek Flat. Bozeman and Big Sky shops cover flies and reports.

About this water

Freestone trout river, ~90 fishable miles from Yellowstone NP to the Missouri headwaters at Three Forks, MT. Wade-only through the canyon by regulation.

Fishing Gallatin River: the full guide

A River Runs Through It

The Gallatin is Montana's great walk-and-wade river: floating is banned from Yellowstone Park down through the canyon, so every angler meets it on foot, rock to rock. It tumbles out of the park past Big Sky through a boulder canyon (the film location for A River Runs Through It), then relaxes into the valley meadows toward Three Forks: pocket water above, hopper banks below.

Fishing on foot

Canyon fish (browns, rainbows, the odd cutthroat) hold in every pocket: high-stick nymphs through the slots, attractor dries in the soft edges, no cast longer than thirty feet. The valley reach below Gallatin Gateway adds sweepers and undercut banks: bigger browns, hopper-dropper territory. Runoff blows it out May to mid-June; it drops into shape fast and fishes wonderfully all summer at dawn before the rafts (whitewater, not fishing) wake the canyon.

Seasons and sense

Salmonflies rumble through the canyon in late June behind the Madison's hatch; August is hopper time in the valley; October streamers move the big migratory browns. Much of the canyon runs beside US-191: pullout access every mile, and grizzly country upstream: fish with awareness near the park.

Common questions

Why is floating banned on the Gallatin?

A long-standing Montana rule to preserve the wade experience (and manage a narrow, busy canyon). The result is a river where anglers on foot get first-class water no drift boat can beat them to.

When does runoff end?

The river typically clears from mid-June, earliest of the area freestones in some years. The canyon fishes through summer; afternoon glare and rafts make dawn the pro move.

Is the Yellowstone Park section worth it?

Yes: the upper meadows inside the park (permit required) offer solitude and eager fish a short walk from 191: a different, quieter Gallatin.

Is fishing good at Gallatin River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 24 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Nearby waters

Jefferson River4 miCanyon Ferry Lake34 miEnnis Lake36 miMadison River42 miYellowstone River49 miBig Hole River61 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 06052500 β€” Gallatin River at Logan 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 45.9386, -111.4935 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.