Yellowstone National Park’s park-wide afternoon fishing closure took effect Wednesday, July 29, and remains in place. All rivers and streams inside the park are now closed to fishing daily from 2 p.m. to sunrise.
The park-wide expansion, announced Tuesday, July 28, pulls in every fishery beyond the Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon downstream of Norris Campground, which have been under 24/7 closure since July 15. The July 15 NPS release reported peak daytime temperatures of 80 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit and reports of dead fish on the Firehole. The July 28 release, quoted in County 17 and Oil City News, cited water temperatures above 68 degrees, below-average flows, and a continued hot-and-dry forecast. Park lakes remain open sunrise to sunset.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks widened its own restrictions the same day. New full closures took effect within 100 yards of the mouths of Fish Creek, Rattlesnake Creek, and the St. Regis River on the Clark Fork to protect threatened bull trout, a different management rationale from the recreational-trout hoot-owl mechanic. FWP also added 2 p.m.-to-midnight hoot-owl restrictions on eight additional waterways across the southwest and western part of the state, including sections of the Big Hole, Blackfoot, Clark Fork, East Fork of the Bitterroot, and Rock Creek.
Wyoming Game and Fish rolled out five regional voluntary catch-and-release closures under its “Fishing in the Heat” framework between July 16 and July 29: the Green River below Flaming Gorge on July 16, the Upper North Platte from the Colorado line to Dugway Campground on July 18, the Green from the Forest Boundary to Fontenelle Reservoir plus the New Fork and North Horse Creek on July 23, and the North Platte from Lusby Boat Ramp to the Dave Johnston Power Plant Dam plus Deer Creek south of Glenrock on July 29. The same day, WGFD issued a formal voluntary closure of the Snake River from the Yellowstone boundary to Palisades Reservoir along with a voluntary closure on Flat Creek. All are voluntary noon-to-sunrise pauses that trigger at 70 degrees. Jackson Region Fisheries Supervisor Darren Rhea, in the July 29 release, said anglers can “enjoy great fishing while ensuring our trout populations remain resilient” by wrapping up by noon.
Idaho Fish and Game has not issued thermal or hoot-owl closures on trout waters this July. A June 15 release said the department rarely alters fishing seasons because trout can move to cooler water and hot-weather pressure tends to be self-regulating.
Yellowstone has now gone park-wide twice this decade: July 24 to August 20 in 2021, and again in 2024, when the park layered park-wide partial closures on top of the same 24/7 closures on the Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon in place now.
Most park rivers and streams remain fishable sunrise to 2 p.m. this week, and park lakes are open sunrise to sunset. Wyoming’s current tally sits on the WGFD Fishing in the Heat page; Montana’s is at the FWP waterbody closures page.
[DEVELOPING — see prior MidCurrent coverage: Montana Closes Section of the Madison, Expands Hoot-Owl to Six More Rivers]
