Mountain West
Fly fishing in Wyoming
Short answer
Wyoming fly fishing is big-water tailwater and freestone fishing at altitude, with rainbow, brown, brook and several cutthroat as the mainstays. The North Platte, Snake, Green and the park waters are the headline rivers. A license is required from age 14, and an annual license also needs a Conservation Stamp. June through September is the heart of the season.
What makes Wyoming different
Wyoming holds two kinds of trout fishing that have very little to do with each other. The North Platte below Gray Reef is a dam-fed tailwater carrying an enormous head of heavy rainbows that eat scuds, leeches and midges all winter, and it fishes when most of the Rockies is frozen. An afternoon west, the Snake around Jackson is a freestone river holding Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat — a trout found in this drainage and almost nowhere else — which rise to a big foam dry with none of the suspicion a tailwater fish shows. Then there is the complication every visitor runs into: a large share of Wyoming's famous water lies inside Yellowstone National Park, which sells its own permit and does not accept the state license. Plan the park as a separate trip with separate paperwork.
What trout and other fish are in Wyoming?
- Rainbow trout
- The North Platte tailwaters hold them in numbers and in size.
- Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat
- Native to the Snake drainage and effectively nowhere else. Freely rises to a dry fly.
- Yellowstone cutthroat
- Native to the Yellowstone and upper Shoshone drainages.
- Brown trout
- Strongest on the North Platte and the Green, and hard to move in daylight.
- Brook trout
- Small mountain streams and beaver ponds across the ranges.
- Golden trout
- High lakes in the Wind River Range. A long walk, and the reason people make it.
- Mountain whitefish
- Native and abundant, and a reliable winter fish.
Where to fly fish in Wyoming
- North Platte — Gray Reef
- Tailwater below the dam. Scuds, leeches and midges, and trout heavier than the river looks like it should hold.
- North Platte — Miracle Mile
- The stretch between Kortes and Pathfinder. Open, windy, and worth it in autumn.
- Snake River
- Around Jackson. Fine-spotted cutthroat on big dries, with the Tetons for scenery.
- Green River
- Below Fontenelle. Big water, big browns, and a strong terrestrial season.
- Yellowstone National Park waters
- The Firehole, Madison and Lamar. A park permit is required; a Wyoming license is not valid.
- Wind River Range lakes
- Backcountry stillwater for golden and cutthroat trout. A multi-day walk.
When to fly fish in Wyoming
| When | What is happening |
|---|---|
| January – March | Tailwater fishing. Midges and scuds on the North Platte while the freestone rivers sit under ice. |
| April – May | Baetis on the tailwaters, then runoff begins. The Platte stays fishable when the Snake does not. |
| June | Peak snowmelt on the freestone rivers. Salmonflies and golden stones once the water starts to drop. |
| July – August | Terrestrial season. Hoppers, ants and beetles on the Snake and the Green, and the high lakes finally thaw. |
| September – December | Baetis, aggressive pre-spawn browns, and the Miracle Mile at its best. Then back to midges. |
Do you need a license to fly fish in Wyoming?
Yes. Licenses are issued by Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
| License | Price |
|---|---|
| Resident, annual | $48.50 |
| Non-resident, annual | $123.50 |
Wyoming sells fishing in two parts. The resident total is a $27 twelve-month fishing license plus the $21.50 Conservation Stamp; the non-resident total is $102 plus the same $21.50 stamp. The stamp is valid twelve months from purchase and covers hunting as well. Prices change — check with the agency before you buy.
Rules worth knowing before you go
- A fishing license is required from age 14. An annual license must be bought with a Conservation Stamp, which is valid twelve months and covers hunting and fishing both; daily licenses do not need one.
- Yellowstone National Park sells its own fishing permit and a Wyoming license is not valid inside the park. The park's rules, seasons and tackle restrictions are its own.
- Wyoming has no general stream access right of the kind Montana has. The water may be public while the bed beneath it is not — float through, and get permission before you wade private ground.
- Many waters carry their own creel, season and tackle rules, and they change annually. Check the regulations for the stretch you intend to fish.
Regulations change every year and vary water by water. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department rule book is the only authority — this page is a starting point, not a legal reference.
Flies that matter in Wyoming
Each of these is a card in the deck, and each has a full page in Our Fly-brary.
Keep reading
- Do I need a fishing license? — how licensing works across states
- How to read water — where trout hold, anywhere
- Best time of day to fly fish — the seasonal logic behind the table above
- Our Fly-brary — every fly in the deck, explained
Fly fishing in Idaho Fly fishing in Pennsylvania Fly fishing in Montana Fly fishing in Colorado Fly fishing in Michigan Fly fishing in Utah Fly fishing in Oregon Fly fishing in New York Fly fishing in North Carolina Fly fishing in California Fly fishing in Washington Fly fishing in Wisconsin Fly fishing in Arkansas Fly fishing in New Mexico Fly fishing in Tennessee Fly fishing in Vermont Fly fishing in Maine Fly fishing in Virginia Fly fishing in Alaska Fly fishing in Arizona Fly fishing in Missouri Fly fishing in Georgia Fly fishing in Minnesota Fly fishing in Nevada Fly fishing in Ohio Fly fishing in Maryland Fly fishing in Connecticut Fly fishing in Texas Fly fishing in New Hampshire Fly fishing in Massachusetts Fly fishing in Kentucky Fly fishing in South Carolina Fly fishing in South Dakota Fly fishing in Oklahoma Fly fishing in West Virginia Fly fishing in New Jersey Fly fishing in Iowa Fly fishing in Indiana Fly fishing in Alabama Fly fishing in Illinois Fly fishing in Nebraska Fly fishing in Kansas Fly fishing in Rhode Island Fly fishing in Delaware Fly fishing in North Dakota Fly fishing in Louisiana Fly fishing in Mississippi Fly fishing in Florida Fly fishing in Hawaii
The deck
54 flies, drawn by hand, in your jacket pocket.
A 54-card fly-fishing deck of original hand-drawn flies, each explaining what it imitates. Made by a father-and-daughter team in Eagle, Idaho.
Order now (opens our Shopify store in a new tab) See the deck