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Gibbon River YNP

Sat, 01/16/2010 - 17:41 -- jmaslar

The Gibbon River has it’s beginnings in the center of Yellowstone National Park, at Grebe Lake. After leaving Grebe Lake the Gibbon River flows about 1 ½ miles into Wolf Lake, and then it meanders through some thick forest, then Virginia Meadows, and Virginia Cascades. It continues through Norris Meadows and through a fast water section before reaching Elk Park which is another large meadow. After Elk Park, it flows through still another meadow, called Gibbon Meadow with even larger trout. The Gibbon River in this section of meadows has undercut banks and a sandy bottom providing ideal habitat for trout that can easily reach 18 inches in length.

 As the Gibbon River passes near the Norris Geyser Basin thermal water is added to the river but the volume of water is too small to cause a warming in the water temperature as it travels another ten miles providing excellent trout fishing before going over the 90 foot high Gibbon Falls. Below the falls is a deep canyon section where the flow eventually slows down and into the lower Gibbon Meadows.

After the meadows, the Gibbon joins the Firehole River creating the famous Madison River. This general area can be accessed from the Madison Picnic Area. The trout near the Madison Picnic Area are smart and selective probably due to the fishing pressure by families as well as seasoned anglers.

 
Fishing the Gibbon River:
Since the Gibbon River is not as much changed by the inflow of warmer water, it can be a better river to fish in the summer. Excellent late summer fishing can be had using terrestrials such as hoppers. Fall also offers an excellent time to fish for the larger browns that migrate up from the Madison River to spawn. Some of the spawning brown trout move all the way from Hebgen Lake upstream through the entire section of the Madison River and into the lower Gibbon River. Large trout can be taken during this time of fall spawn all the way up to the Gibbon Falls.
 
Late Spring/Early Summer Fishing:
At the season opener, the fishing is not great, however it improves dramatically in Mid June and July and remains fair until Mid September when it again becomes excellent. Start the season with the Blue Winged Olive, Little Black Caddis, and Little Sister Caddis patterns. Most of the time, dry flies are effective but if not, nymphs will almost always produce good results.
 
Summer:
Summer slows down but fishing with the terrestrials along the seams near the undercut banks in the plentiful meadows will produce better results than many of the Yellowstone streams in the summer months. Try to locate trout in the undercut banks, and cast to them. Polarized sun glasses are a must at this time.
 
Fall:
The fall will see a marked improvement in fishing due to the cooling of the water. Grasshoppers beetles and flying ants will be good patterns to try in the meadows.
Geographical Location: 
Type of Stream: 
Freestone
Species: 
Wild brown, rainbow, and brook with native cutthroat and grayling
Location: 
Northwest/Central Yellowstone National Park
Nearest Town: 
West Yellowstone, and Gardiner, Montana
Access: 
The last meadow can be easily accessed across the road and up from the Madison Picnic Area. However the bulk of the Gibbon River can be accessed with easy hikes no more than 300 yards from the Grand Loop Road.
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