New water on an old river, Yellowstone
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Over the 4th weekend and again this week, I took the opportunity to fish some interesting new water on the Gibbon river in Yellowstone. Last summer the National Park Service rebuilt major portions of the Madison to Norris road along the Gibbon River. Just above Gibbon Falls, they abandoned and reclaimed about 2 miles of roadway through Gibbon canyon. Just above the falls a new bridge spans the Gibbon and takes the highway well south of the river and over a ridge meeting the old road again in about two miles. The old road in this canyon stretch was winding, narrow and way too close to the river.
New Bridge across the Gibbon
Fishing this initial two miles of the canyon wasn’t fun or easy because of the road, tree lined banks and lots of deadfall. Additionally, the canyon water was difficult wading, especially in the early summer. That’s all changed now because this two mile stretch of river is now isolated, accessible only at each end. The reclaimed roadway, albeit not esthetically pleasing now provides an open corridor to the river. It will be years until this corridor re-vegetates. The new openness makes covering the water much easier now.
Typical sections of reclaimed road
And the fishing has been good. The river is loaded with 8-12 inch browns that have been exceptionally aggressive the last two trips. This is traditional pocket water with good rocky runs and good shoreline deadfall holding trout. My last trip, 5-10 fish came out of each good run on small black foam ants. And from the scarcity of footprints, very few anglers are venturing into the canyon. For some reason, too many Yellowstone anglers are afraid to get out of sight of the road or their vehicles.
If you get to Yellowstone this year or next and want to get away from the road and the cars, yet not go into the backcountry, try the canyon stretch of the Gibbon just above the falls. It is new, productive water on an old river.This is actually pretty good news. My wife and I have fished that stretch a few times. Wow, what a difference though. We leave again on the 21st but for the Alder area. A side trip may be in order. Thanks!
Great report Mike. I’ve fished that stretch a few times as the motorhomes and Harleys roared by.
Glad to see the improvements.Thanks again.
I prefer the hike as well…especially Slough, and specifically Third Meadow. Long day but always worth it. Typically on a midweek day we ride the roads and hit some more easily accessible water. This looks like a new stop for us! Last trip we tried our hand at the Gibbon Meadow.
Slough 3rd:
Other places in te park I like! http://fish-n-fowl.blogspot.com/p/links.htmlWater conditions actually look really good too! I was hearing a lot of doom and gloom about the high water levels blowing out the whole season. Zach
The Gibbon hit flood early and then cleared. It (along with the Firehole/Madison) don’t drain extremely high country. They all fished well the last two weeks of June. The Firehole and lower Gibbon are done until September because of high temps, but the Madison should fish well all summer, especially in the mornings.
The NE corner rivers aren’t fairing as well. Slough, Lamar, Soda Butte and Hellroaring are still blown and probably won’t fish well until mid August. The Yellowstone at Fishing Bridge hit record flood in June that covered the pedestrian walkways on the bridge. Although its now dropping. The Yellowstone in Paradise Valley is still blown, but dropping. Most of the local guides aren’t taking many booking on the Y until mid August.
I have fished the Gardner twice in the last week as it has cleared, but is still pretty high. However, lots of stoneflies and hoppers have brought decent fish into the lower Gardner chasing them.
I’m sitting in Livingston, got my 9 year old out on a “boy trip” I had to come now due to 5th grade starts in two weeks. Jackson Hole gets 400″ snow on average, tram operator said 741″ this season. Wait till late Aug or Sept if you can. Firehole &I Gibbon are only fishable water we’ve seen. Heading to NE corner tomorrow. Will fish Trout Lake, fished Grebe Lake yesterday, got my first Graying. My 8th trip to Yellowstone, Sam’s 1st. He is already talking about our “boy trip” next year.
I just returned a couple of days ago from there. The Madison, Gibbon and Firehole are all in great shape. I was sort of surprised they weren’t getting pounded by more fishermen. Driving over the Lamar, Slough and Soda Butte they were still fairly blown out still. The Upper Gallatin was getting much clearer, but the lower section towards the canyon was still running pretty high and discolored.
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