Wyoming means trout at scale: the North Platte's Grey Reef tailwater grows rainbows like a hatchery with rapids, the Bighorn and Wind River systems add canyon water, and the high country holds golden trout lakes that require boots and ambition. Uncrowded is the default.
Reports current for Friday, October 23
Every one of the 13 Wyoming waters we cover has a live read this morning. 1 is scoring 4 out of 5 or better and 6 are slow. Water runs 47 F to 62 F. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind. 4 have a better-than-even chance of rain.
Best right now: Glendo Reservoir 4/5, Bighorn Lake 3/5, Flaming Gorge Reservoir 3/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
The North Platte below Gray Reef Dam in Natrona County: a tailwater with its own 2026 Wyoming rules and public access areas toward Casper.
The two-state canyon sea: record-book lake trout, kokanee clouds and the Green River's emerald tailwater pouring out the bottom.
Jackson Lake: Grand Teton National Park's largest lake, a natural lake raised by a dam on the Snake River, fished under Wyoming licences and park limits for cutthroat and lake trout.
Wind River country: Boysen’s wind-swept water holds walleye, and the canyon below it holds trout worth the drive.
Wyoming’s desert trout lake: Seminoe grows big rainbows and browns in the sagebrush, with walleye moving in.
One of Reclamation's first dams, in a granite canyon of the North Platte southwest of Casper, holding a reservoir where Wyoming Game and Fish stocks rainbow and cutthroat trout and kokanee.
Glendo Reservoir: a Bureau of Reclamation lake on the North Platte inside Glendo State Park, which calls it one of Wyoming's top walleye fisheries.
Fremont Lake at the foot of the Wind River Range: lake, rainbow and brown trout and kokanee, with a Forest Service campground and ramp on the east shore.
The Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam: native Snake River cutthroat water through Grand Teton National Park, floated from launches the park names.
Below Fontenelle: the Green runs big Wyoming trout through sagebrush canyon country.
Bighorn Lake: a reservoir of more than 70 miles in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, from Wyoming into Montana, fished for walleye, trout, perch, crappie, catfish and ling.
Ocean Lake: a Riverton Reclamation Project lake inside an 11,505-acre Wyoming Game and Fish habitat area, managed for walleye with yearly fingerling stocking.
A river across the reservation: the Wind runs trout from the Absarokas through a red-rock canyon.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: April.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Platte River (Grey Reef) fishing report | River | Natrona | modeled | Apr |
| Flaming Gorge Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Sweetwater | modeled | Apr |
| Jackson Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Teton | USGS | Apr |
| Boysen Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Fremont | USGS | Apr |
| Seminoe Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Carbon | USGS | May |
| Pathfinder Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Natrona | modeled | Apr |
| Glendo Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Platte | USGS | Apr |
| Fremont Lake fishing report | Lake | Sublette | USGS | Apr |
| Snake River fishing report | River | Teton | USGS | Apr |
| Green River fishing report | River | Lincoln | USGS | Apr |
| Bighorn Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Big Horn | USGS | Apr |
| Ocean Lake fishing report | Lake | Fremont | modeled | Apr |
| Wind River fishing report | River | Fremont | USGS | Apr |
Grey Reef is the headline: stable dam flows and endless scud beds produce 16-20 inch rainbows in absurd density, floated with rubber-legs and worms year-round. Upstream, the Miracle Mile between Kortes and Pathfinder offers bigger water and migratory browns; downstream, Fremont Canyon's pocket fishing rewards climbers. Casper has quietly become a fly-fishing town.
The Wind River Range hides golden trout above 10,000 feet (a backpacking grail), the Snake's fine-spotted cutthroat define Jackson Hole, and Flaming Gorge's Wyoming arm holds lake trout of stunning size. Winter fishing continues on the tailwaters: 20-fish January days at the Reef surprise no local.
It fishes year-round: April-May (pre-runoff) and October are prime, the famous "worm bite" follows spring flushing flows, and even January produces. Book shuttles in Casper or Alcova.