Fishing Regulations
GENERAL REGULATIONS
1. Fishing Season
2. Fishing Permits
Yellowstone National Park fishing is open each day from 5 am to 10 pm, beginning on the last Saturday of May through and including the first Sunday in November. Exceptions are noted in area-specific regulations.
a. Anglers 12 years of age or older must be in possession of a valid Yellowstone National Park fishing permit to fish in the park. A fishing permit is valid only if signed by the permittee. A permit fee is charged for anyone 16 years of age or older. Children 11 years of age or younger may fish without a permit when supervised by an adult. The adult is responsible for the child's actions.
b. Park Rangers may check permits, inspect tackle, fish, creels, and/or other containers where fish or tackle may be stored.
3. Tackle and Bait Restrictions
a. Each angler may use only one rod or line that must be attended at all times.
b. Only artificial lures and flies may be used. No natural or organic bait such as salmon eggs, worms, insects, or foodstuffs is allowed. Scented attractants are illegal. (One exception for children 11 years or younger can be found in 4e of area-specific regulations.)
c. Lures may have only one hook with a single, double or treble configuration. No fish snagging is allowed.
d. Flies may have only one hook with a single point. Up to two flies may be used on a single leader.
e. Leaded fishing tackle such as leaded split-shot sinkers, weighted jigs (lead molded to a hook), and soft lead-weighted ribbon for nymph fishing are not allowed.
3. Size and Possession Limits
a. Size and possession limits vary by species and area. The maximum number of fish an angler can keep is five fish per day; at least three must be brook trout. Exceptions are lake trout from Yellowstone or Heart Lakes, or brook trout from Pocket Lake. An angler must cease fishing immediately after filling his/her possession limit except on Yellowstone Lake. Possession limits include all fish--fresh, stored or preserved.
b. Fish that do not meet the specified size restrictions must be returned carefully and immediately to the waters from which they were taken. Unintentionally killed fish should also be returned to the water so that they can be consumed by wildlife. It is the responsibility of the angler to be able to measure fish lengths and to identify fish by species.
4. General Closures: No fishing from any road bridge or boat dock.
5. Boat and Float Tube Regulations: A Boat Permit is required of all types of vessels. Float tubes are classified as vessels. They are not allowed on any river or stream in Yellowstone except the Lewis River between Lewis and Shoshone Lakes. Boat Permits must be obtained in person at any of the following locations: South Entrance, Lewis Lake Campground, Grant Village Backcountry Office, Bridge Bay Marina and Lake Ranger Station. Non-motorized permits only may be obtained at Mammoth Backcountry Office, Canyon Backcountry Office, Old Faithful Backcountry Office, Northeast Entrance, West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce/Public Lands Desk, and Bechler Ranger Station. Fees are charged for both motorized and non-motorized boat permits.
YELLOWSTONE MOVES TO PROTECT NATIVE FISH SPECIES
As of the summer of 2001, all native sport fish species in Yellowstone National Park became subject to catch-and-release-only fishing rules. The native species affected by this change are the cutthroat trout and its several subspecies, Montana grayling, and mountain whitefish. Most of the park's native fishes have been included under catch-and-release-only fishing rules since the early 1970's. The changes effective in 2001 primarily affect populations in Yellowstone Lake, its tributaries, and the upper Lamar River.
Due to evidence that invasive introduced organisms such as lake trout, whirling disease, and New Zealand mud snails are having negative effects on Yellowstone's native sport fish, the 2001 changes seem to be the next logical step to help repair the tremendous damage being done to the native species.
Yellowstone cutthroat trout have declined throughout the west and are currently designated as a "Species of Special Concern-Class A" by the American Fisheries Society. A formal petition to list this subspecies as "threatened" throughout its range was submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1998. Yellowstone National Park represents approximately 91% of the current range of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and contains 85% of the historical lake habitat for this subspecies, so the park is considered crucial to the survival of the species.
Yellowstone cutthroat trout generally declined in the second half of the 20th century due to angler overharvest, competition with exotic fishes, and overzealous egg collection. Populations rebounded in the park after the advent of catch-and-release-only fishing rules in the 1970's, but new and aggressive invaders are causing an increasing threat to these native fish and alarming park fisheries biologists. Nonnative lake trout, an effective fish predator, were discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1994. Throughout the west cutthroat trout populations preyed upon by introduced lake trout have typically declined, exhibited lower growth, or have disappeared. Aggressive lake trout control efforts by the National Park Service and no harvest limits have resulted in removing thousands of lake trout from Yellowstone Lake since 1994, including more than 12,000 in 2000. Still, the number of Yellowstone cutthroat trout monitored during the annual fall count in Yellowstone Lake was lower in recent years than at any other time in the 25-year history of the monitoring effort. Whirling disease, which has been implicated in recent years in the decline of trout populations in many western states, was discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1998. So far, it is unclear which of these two nonnative invaders has been the greater factor in the decline of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, but there is no question they are causing it.
Other native sport fish, including westslope cutthroat trout and Montana grayling, have been under catch-and-release-only fishing rules since 1973. This is the first time mountain whitefish have been placed under such rules in Yellowstone National Park. The new rule gives mountain whitefish equal status to the other native sport fish in the park.
In addition to the catch-and-release-only fishing rules, the opening date of the fishing season on Yellowstone Lake returned to its historical date of June 15 for the 2001 fishing season. From 1998 through 2000, Yellowstone Lake's opening date was moved forward to June 1 in an attempt to give anglers a greater chance of catching nonnative lake trout, but monitoring showed that during the early June period, anglers caught several thousand cutthroat trout for every lake trout caught. Because of incidental hooking mortality of released fish, this negates the positive impact of the angler catch of lake trout.
Other pages you might find helpful:
Montana Fishing
West Yellowstone Montana fishing guide.
Wyoming Fishing
Wyoming fishing information.
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