Paddlefish Season Active as Yellowstone Holds Moderate June Flows

What's Biting

What's Next

The Yellowstone River at 2,050 cfs at Corwin Springs represents moderate early-June conditions for the upper drainage. As snowmelt continues from the surrounding mountain ranges, flows could tick up modestly before beginning their gradual summer decline. If warm temperatures accelerate melt at elevation, a brief pulse is possible in the coming days. Check the USGS gauge before committing to a wade-fishing outing, and plan to work softer water along cut banks and eddies rather than the heavier mid-channel flows.

For trout anglers on the Yellowstone, elevated flows typically favor heavy nymph rigs. Stone fly nymphs, large attractor patterns, and Hare's Ear variants fished in soft seams have historically produced well when the river carries this kind of speed. As flows ease toward mid-month and clarity improves, caddis and PMD hatches should begin firing in earnest on lower-gradient stretches, typically in the evening hours. That transition, when flows drop and the surface starts to break with rising fish, is one of the most anticipated windows of the Montana season.

On the Missouri River tailwater, conditions are regulated and more predictable than the freestone Yellowstone. This stretch runs on controlled releases, keeping water temperatures stable even as air temps climb through June. Nymphing with small San Juan Worms, Zebra Midges, and Pheasant Tail variants under an indicator is the workhorse approach here, with dry fly opportunities expanding as hatch activity intensifies through the month.

Paddlefish anglers in the lower Yellowstone and Missouri confluence area should review the new 2026 tagging requirements (per MT FWP Fishing News) before heading out. The old colored plastic tag system is retired, replaced by a big-game style validation protocol that must be completed before the fish is moved or processed.

The waning gibbous moon phase favors low-light feeding windows. On both the Yellowstone and Missouri, dawn and dusk sessions are worth prioritizing, particularly for trout moving to the surface during hatch events. As June progresses toward the summer solstice, longer daylight hours extend those productive evening windows significantly.

Context

Early June is historically a transitional moment for Montana's Yellowstone and Missouri drainages. Snowmelt runoff typically drives the Yellowstone through its spring high-water period, which peaks anywhere from late May to mid-June depending on the snowpack year. The 2,050 cfs reading at Corwin Springs (USGS gauge 06043500) is consistent with a moderate or post-peak runoff cycle, though the current intel feeds do not include comparative year-over-year flow data. A definitive early-or-late read on the 2026 season is not possible from the available information.

Paddlefish season on the lower Yellowstone and Missouri typically opens in mid-May, with snagging as the traditional harvest method as fish move upriver to spawn. The tagging overhaul announced by MT FWP Fishing News for 2026 is the most notable administrative change to the paddlefish season in recent years, shifting harvest validation to mirror big game protocols.

For trout, June marks the beginning of one of the most productive stretches on the Missouri River tailwater. Hatches of PMDs, caddis, and later in the month Tricos build steadily, and the tailwater's population of large rainbows and browns becomes increasingly surface-oriented as water temperatures warm. This progression is generally on-schedule for early June. No comparative signal in the current angler-intel feeds suggests 2026 is running unusually early or late on this drainage.

MT FWP's ongoing bull trout recovery work at Swan Lake, highlighted in their recent Field Trips video series, reflects a long-running conservation challenge across Montana. Invasive lake trout have been expanding through several drainages, gradually crowding out the cold-water bull trout. Anglers fishing waters where bull trout may be present should check current MT FWP regulations for catch-and-release or handling requirements before heading out.