There are even runners now in the lower Gibbon meadow, though numbers will certainly improve over the next several weeks.  Soft hackles and streamers are the name of the game.

Don’t forget that the road is only open to Tuft Cliffs – next year you’ll be able to get up river.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

It’s down to the wire this week for the “old” Madison Junction to Norris drive – for decades we’ve thought of that section of road as the “Gibbon River Drive” given the delightful proximity of the road to the river in part of the Canyon.

Just five more days (counting today) and that section of road will be gone forever; the roadbed scar will outlive you and I, but you’ll never again drive along the twisting two-lane with the dancing Gibbon just outside your window.  Better get in and make the drive one more time – I’m headed back in on Friday to do just that.

I’m still sticking to my guns that the Canyon section of the Gibbon will become a better fishery after the road has been moved, and making access just a little more challenging (yes, my friend, you’ll have to hike a bit) is almost always better for the fish and river.

There will be a round of moaning and groaning this week and early next as travel from the west side to the north side of the Park takes a bit longer.  Relax – this is one of the most verdant August seasons we’ve had in the neighborhood in years, and by mid-August crowds are beginning to thin just a bit.

A good friend from Salt Lake has been fishing the Gibbon meadows right at sunset the past few days, prospecting for big browns coming out to play, and having a ball.  He’s promised pictures but not yet delivered.

Ants, beetles, and the rest of the terrestrial family have been popular on the upper Gibbon with the smallish but eager brookies.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

Just 12 more days of driving through the Gibbon Canyon on the ‘old road’; effective 17 August the roadway will be closed forcing folks to drive a bit further and enjoy some of the rustic beauty of the Park and surrounding neighborhood.

There will also be an expansion of the Gibbon fishing closure starting on the 17^th……

It’s time now to be chasing brookies above Norris anyway; the lower river is far to warm to be fished (see the Madison report today).   There are many better waters in the Park right now, but a few hours wandering along the upper Gibbon will make you rediscover the joys of small stream fishing.

Bring a camera, the brookies are a sight to behold…..

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

The Gibbon continues to shuffle along through the summer season, off the radar of most anglers headed for trophy water to the north, east, or west.

Not a lot new this week as compared to last – for the angler willing to hoof it a bit there are bountiful brookies above Norris, and still some early morning angling in the meadows (particularly on these cooler mornings due this week).

Less than three weeks until the road closure between Madison junction and Norris……

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

The state of affairs on the Gibbon hasn’t changed a great deal from last week’s report.

The warm weather has more or less made the river below Norris off limits for fly fishermen at this point in time, with abundant brookies and other feisty river residents available and interested above Norris.  (Though a very early morning venture the to the meadows does sound interesting….)

Stalking little brookies in 3 weight sized streams, cricks, and brooks is fine with me.  Funny, after an day doing just that I feel like much more of a fly fisherman than after negotiating the flotilla of drifters and rafts on the upper Madison and boating 20 inchers….to each their own, huh?

The countdown to the closure of the Canyon is now nearing three weeks – expect to read and hear a bit more moaning and gnashing of teeth as the closure date nears.

Photo credit YNP NPS.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

As the summer clock ticks away ever faster, we’re down to about a month of time left before the Madison Junction to Norris road through the Gibbon Canyon is closed.  

Don’t sweat the additional driving time coming up – the greater Yellowstone area is greener at this time in the year that it’s been in probably decades, and gas prices are coming down.   One of my favorite bumper stickers seen around Bozeman is ‘Did You Move Here to Be in a Hurry?’ – there is a tremendous amount of gorgeous country to appreciate, and you can’t change the road closure issue by whining about it anyway.

As noted last week a section of the Gibbon near the construction zone remains closed to fishing; no matter, the Canyon section of the Gibbon and below has been heating up to near 70 despite our relatively mild weather.  This weekend water temps will likely soar.  

The best Gibbon play is to explore the smaller sections of the river for the brightly colored and foolish residents of the river.  There are no leviathans here and (thankfully) no trophy trout headhunters – just plenty of fish for the wary, stealthy, and stout of leg and lung.  Caddis, PMDs, maybe a mahogany or two, and terrestrials.

Make some noise and carry that bear spray.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

The decision by the NPS to close access to part of the Gibbon River yesterday (map above) has prompted some commentary from a few in the neighborhood, though the affected section of the river has been warming fairly significantly on the more summer like days. 

The briskly cool nights of the past few days have offered some respite from the (relative) summer heat, though the bright, sunny afternoons are heating the Park’s waters (including the Gibbon) as is typical this time of year. 

I fully agree with the Park’s guys that the river below the falls had already warmed (until the last few chilly nights) to the point that one shouldn’t be fishing below the falls, though the meadows still have some life in them (particularly Elk Park) – though the fishing is tough requiring some stealth and finer tippets than you might think. 

Above Norris the river is in fine shape with Caddis, Drakes, PMDs, and attractors in play.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

Just because it will be harder to do in a few weeks we’ve spent a bit of time in the Canyon fishing pocket water. 

Yes, it’s fun and no, there are not huge fish there.  Personally I find fishing waters that don’t attract the ‘20/20’ crowd increasingly attractive.  The Parks’ guys like Trudes here, though any well presented, smallish attractor (I’m partial to brightly colored Humpies myself) will work here.  That small water rod is a great fit as well.

There are still Caddis and Drakes in the meadows if you hit it right, with a few PMDs around even (cloudy days like today – hot damn). 

Probably our favorite Gibbon water is that above Norris (and yep – some of it is ‘children’s water’); though pretty rare these days you’ll still have a shot at a grayling up here too. 

No construction in the Gibbon Canyon this weekend.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

The Gibbon has been drawing a bit of well deserved attention these days as well; in just a few short weeks access to sections of the Gibbon will change forever (not a big deal, but you won’t be driving right to the water in the road realignment section). 

It’s attractor time below the meadows, with PMDs and Caddis in their typical life cycle patterns in the meadows (high and low). 

My most bug minded neighbor fished Golden Stones, Little Yellow Stones, and Caddis in one long afternoon / evening below the falls a few days ago and said it was one of the best Gibbon days he’s had in years. 

A fine water and oft overlooked; be prepared to cover a fair amount of river.  Don’t forget to watch for bison and give them a wide berth – they’ve taken lately to butting unaware visitors in the ass.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

These days most fly fishing folk entering the Park from West Yellowstone relish their drive into the Park along the Madison, take a right turn at Madison junction, glance at the Gibbon in National Park Meadows, and head on to the Firehole.

The Gibbon is shaping up nicely, and deserves more than a fly fisher’s cursory glance these days. 

Flows are still above seasonal averages – Joe from Pocatello opined in an email yesterday that flows were ‘double what they normally are…’; as you can see from the graph this morning they’re not quite that high though rains forecast for the weekend could push flows a bit higher (for a short time).

The river is now fishing above and below the falls, and you’ll see PMDs and Caddis on this river now, though as Yellowstoner recently noted, much of the Gibbon is also attractor pocket water that produces most often smaller but beautiful fish. 

I for one continue to feel that the Gibbon – Norris road relocation will be a great thing for this fishery; having fewer rods around in season is almost always a good thing.  Be prepared to lace up those hiking boots and get to it.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

Dropping flows and clearing water on the Gibbon have improved conditions quite a bit on this oft overlooked water. 

The Gibbon isn’t the biggest, the best, the most revered or the most photographed of rivers in the Park; in fact, it’s not even close to any of those labels.  It really is oft overlooked as fly anglers rush from the hallowed waters of the west side to the northeast corner – a fact that is fine with us. 

There’s some nifty fish and fishing to be done on the Gibbon, and she’s been fishing pretty well below the falls on nymphs and buggers, with baetis on the cloudy days last week. 

Golden Stones are a possibility this weekend and into next week, and you just might tease one of the larger holdovers from last fall’s run to the surface with one of these. 

We’re still banking on a great fall on the Gibbon after the Madison – Norris road closes this in late August.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

The Gibbon has come a long way in terms of improvement over the past week; flows are down, clarity has improved, and with the Firehole and Madison in the Park fishing well, pressure has been light to say the least. 

This past week the river has been most fishable below Gibbon Falls; stoneflies have been seen in the upper most river below the falls (above Tuff Cliffs), with nymphing the primary approach below there. 

The improving water conditions and favorable weather over the next few days should make for some nice fishing on little yellow and golden stones; the Gibbon’s baetis and PMDs are typically a few weeks later though make sure you have these bugs in the box. 

The upper sections of the river will be improving but are a bit of slog still; I have a sentimental attachment to late afternoons wandering the open spaces of Elk and Gibbon meadows, though they’re still a bit soupy and spongey these days.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

To be quite honest we didn’t spend a lot of time looking the Gibbon over in the days before the opener last Saturday and when in the Park over the weekend.  Flows were running quite high and reports from friends and neighbors encouraged us to pursue other options. 

Despite some bright sunny days and warming temps, flows on the Gibbon are beginning to temper a bit as you can see from this morning’s flow chart.

Word from several friends is that the lower section of the river is fishing well to small streamers despite being stained and high; the upper river won’t be in shape for at least another week pending where you’re headed.

We suspect that a fair number of anglers will continue to overlook the Gibbon again this year, compounded in part by the road construction and upcoming closure come August.  We’re still betting fall fishing on the Gibbon during the road closure window may be quite a treat.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

Gibbon flows didn’t quite reach the outrageous levels the Firehole did during our mini-heat wave earlier in the week, though as you can see from the flow chart she’s another one of the Park rivers that is rolling along today. 

With another cool night in the Park last night, this morning’s peak was roughly 50 cfs less than yesterday’s and flows will of course drop off during the day today.  Just a guess – when the Park’s fly shop crew makes their drive by this afternoon she’ll be tea colored and will get a maybe rating for the opener tomorrow.  Warm temps and lots of sunshine over the next few days will keep the water rolling.

More than one intrepid fly fisher has plied the deeper runs in dirty water with bigger nymphs and even a smaller streamer or two in years past on or around opening day….

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon

There’s been a fair amount of commentary offered by some of our fishing neighbors regarding the scheduled closure of the Park road from Madison Junction to Norris after 17 August this season.  We’ll offer our two cents in a few days. 

Park fisherfolk know that section of Park road parallels the lovely Gibbon River for much of its length, and Gibbon access in the later season will be limited to hale and hardy hikers.  Frankly, we consider that to be good news, as the Gibbon fishes quite well in the fall, and fish residing in the river will not have been pestered much during the latter half of the season. 

We will have our first Gibbon river update posted the week before the Park’s fishing opener on the 23^rd of May. 

Prior year’s reports are still active on our old site Best Fly Fishing Yellowstone – see archived Gibbon River fly fishing reports here.

Tags: River - YNP - Gibbon