Wading Rivers and Creeks

Shields          Ruby

Begin planning for your wading trip

The Wading Rivers and Creeks

Shields          Ruby          Gardiner          Lamar

Slough Creek          Soda Butte Creek          Fire Hole

Gibbon          Madison

Begin planning for your wading trip

About the maps used on this site.

The maps of Montana and Yellowstone National Park are hand-drawn by artist Chris Robitaille. These and many other maps can be found at Xplorer Maps which creates the world’s finest hand-drawn and hand-lettered illustrations of national parks and other significant historical sites and destinations throughout the world. Every line, letter and icon is unique, custom and original to each new map rendered. Originally designed to pay homage to the early cartographers, these high quality and exceptionally detailed custom maps are rendered by Chris Robitaille (Xplorer Maps artist and co-owner) using an antique, old-world style.

visit xplorer maps here

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Shields River

The Shields is home to an abundant amount of trout that are extremely eager to chow down on dry flies, with miles of private access this is really one of Montana’s best kept secrets! You're sure to have a great day on the shields river with the Yellowstone Cutthroat ready to eat a hopper or a caddis. While working your way up the banks of the Shields you'll have the opportunity to see an abundance of wildlife including moose, deer, and elk! Fishing pressure on the Shields River is extremely low. As the Shields River is so close to many other better-known rivers, such as the Yellowstone River, the Boulder River

and the Missouri River, few anglers ever bother to go out of their way to flyfish this small river. The upper section of the Shields River is home mainly to Yellowstone cutthroat trout and brook trout, which are small but quite numerous. Downstream from the town of Wilsall, the Shields River becomes brown trout water, with some smaller rainbows also being found.

Length of river

62 Miles. Begins in the Crazy Mountains and flows to the confluence with the Yellowstone River just east of Livingston.

The catch

Rainbow, Brown, Cutthroat, Brooke

Shields River

The Shields is home to an abundant amount of trout that are extremely eager to chow down on dry flies, with miles of private access this is really one of Montana’s best kept secrets! You're sure to have a great day on the shields river with the Yellowstone Cutthroat ready to eat a hopper or a caddis. While working your way up the banks of the Shields you'll have the opportunity to see an abundance of wildlife including moose, deer, and elk! Fishing pressure on the Shields River is extremely low. As the Shields River is so close to many other better-known rivers, such as the Yellowstone River, the Boulder River

and the Missouri River, few anglers ever bother to go out of their way to flyfish this small river. The upper section of the Shields River is home mainly to Yellowstone cutthroat trout and brook trout, which are small but quite numerous. Downstream from the town of Wilsall, the Shields River becomes brown trout water, with some smaller rainbows also being found.

Length of river

62 Miles. Begins in the Crazy Mountains and flows to the confluence with the Yellowstone River just east of Livingston.

The catch

Rainbow, Brown, Cutthroat, Brooke

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Ruby River

The Ruby River can be a great reprieve from the crowds. If you find yourself fishing the Madison or Beaverhead River and want a change of pace the Ruby can be a great option. A small windy river that is more of creek fishes big! Hard fighting and aggressive rainbows dominate the water and will take you for a ride! If you're fishing in the area, add a day of wade fishing the Ruby, you will not be disappointed!!

Length of river

48 miles Miles. Through an agricultural valley to its confluence with the Beaverhead River, near Twin Bridges, Montana.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Ruby River

The Ruby River can be a great reprieve from the crowds. If you find yourself fishing the Madison or Beaverhead River and want a change of pace the Ruby can be a great option. A small windy river that is more of creek fishes big! Hard fighting and aggressive rainbows dominate the water and will take you for a ride! If you're fishing in the area, add a day of wade fishing the Ruby, you will not be disappointed!!

Length of river

48 miles Miles. Through an agricultural valley to its confluence with the Beaverhead River, near Twin Bridges, Montana.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Gardiner River-YNP

The Gardner River generally runs clear before other nearby rivers. As a result, productive dry fly fishing can occur in June if favorable conditions occur. Popular dry flies for the lower Gardner River include Caddis and Parachute Adams. Beginning in July and lasting through September, the Gardner River, as elsewhere in many of the park rivers, becomes an excellent place to use hopper and beetle imitations all summer long!

Length of river

25 Miles. The entire river is located within Yellowstone National Park.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Lamar River-YNP

The Lamar River is one of the most beautiful rivers in Yellowstone National Park, flowing through the Lamar Valley - what can only be described as one of the most beautiful meadows found anywhere. Large herds of Bison and Elk lazily graze along the river in the Lamar Valley. Wolves can even occasionally be spotted. The best fly fishing on the Lamar River occurs once run-off subsides, usually between late-June to late-July. When not being fed by melting snow, the Lamar River has crystal clear water. Cutthroat trout, in decent sizes, are found in the Lamar River.

Length of river

40 Miles. Though, it is this 7 mile stretch that has made the Lamar famous in fly fishing circles.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Slough Creek-YNP

Anglers regard the river as being in four sections. The first mile above its juncture with the Lamar is a cascade-riffle stretch through a steep canyon. It is not much fished. The reason is that from the bench at the head of this canyon to the second canyon, a half-mile above Slough Creek Campground, are three miles of really excellent water much more easily reached. It is pools, runs and riffles, one after the other, through an open,

meadow-laced basin, and the largest fish in the creek are to be found here. But they are very difficult to catch in the larger sizes (twenty inches and up). Don't ever believe that these cutthroat are as simple to fool as their more numerous kin of the Yellowstone. These big bruisers in the open meadow pools are as tough to deceive as a five-pound brown.

Length of river

25 Miles. Originates in the Beartooth Mountains, and flows southwest, into Yellowstone National Park and  discharges to the Lamar River near Tower junction.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Soda Butte Creek-YNP

Of all the delicious looking trout streams in Yellowstone National Park,

Soda Butte Creek surely ranks among the finest. Extensive meadows, broken up by pockets of forest, line the lower banks of the river as it twists and turns towards its confluence with the Lamar River at the eastern edge of the Lamar Valley. The fly fishing in Soda Butte Creek is excellent. Similar to the Lamar River, Soda Butte Creek can run high and muddy during spring run-off, an event that can last through late-July in some years. However, once Soda

Butte Creek begins to clear, excellent fly fishing for cutthroat trout can be found on the lower section of the river.

Length of river

Soda Butte Creek is an approximately 20 miles long. A major tributary of the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Fire Hole River-YNP

The Firehole River is located in northwestern Wyoming, and is one of the two major tributaries of the Madison River. It flows north approximately 21 miles from its source in Madison Lake on the Continental Divide to join the Gibbon River at Madison Junction in Yellowstone National Park.

Length of river

21 miles. From its source in Madison Lake on the Continental Divide to join the Gibbon River at Madison Junction.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Gibbon River-YNP

The Gibbon River flows east of the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park, in northwestern Wyoming, the Northwestern United States. Along with the Firehole River, it is a major tributary of the Madison River, which itself is a tributary of the Missouri River.

Length of river

25 Miles. From Grebe Lake, until meeting with the Firehole River for the genies of the Madison River.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Madison River-YNP

A tributary of the Missouri River, the Madison River travels through Yellowstone National Park. After crossing the park boundary, it flows into Hebgen Lake towards Ennis, Montana, and continues northwest where it meets the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers to form the Missouri River.

Length of river

19 Miles. The distance it traverses through YellowStone Park.

The catch

Rainbows, Browns

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Our Half and Full Day Rates

half day includes:

Up To Two Anglers

All Necessary Fishing Gear

Professional Fly Fishing Instructor

Shuttle To and From Fishing Selection

Four Hours of Fishing

does not include:

Gourmet Streamside Lunch

Montana Fishing License

$550

choose date buy fishing license

full day includes:

Up To Two Anglers

All Necessary Fishing Gear

Gourmet Streamside Lunch

Professional Fly Fishing Instructor

Shuttle To and From Fishing Selection

Full Day of Fishing

does not include:

Montana Fishing License

$700

choose date buy fishing license

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