Gallatin River Fishing Report
Gallatin River Fishing Report
6/24/2025
Over the weekend Big Sky saw some cold temps and even got a little bit of snow. Looking at the forecast ahead, there are warm temps and afternoon showers predicted. We are happy to see some extra precipitation as our snowmelt thawed quickly this year.
With the cold snap, our major bug hatches slowed down a lot, but this is good news as it will likely result in hatches like the salmonfly hatch lasting longer and later into the summer. Currently you can find salmonflies as high upriver as the porcupine creek area. There are caddis hatching in all sections of the Gallatin River, and we will likely see some PMDs begin once this water warms back up.
With some afternoon showers in the mix, on some mornings you might see some murky water that begins to clear up around noon, with the water being cleared up in the afternoons and evenings. The mornings are a great time to throw nymph rigs, strip streamers, and if you are out when that water begins to clear you can't go wrong with a dry dropper.
Throwing a dry dropper rig this time of year, and really for the rest of the summer will get you the best of both worlds, dry fly action, and trout that are feeding sub surface. Using a salmonfly dry or caddis dry that has a rubber legs, perdigon or caddis emerger below it is a great place to start.
The streamer fishing has been the best when the water starts warming up in the late morning and when things begin to cool down in the evening. Getting up at the crack of dawn doesn't help too much with the fishing right now as the early mornings have been quite cold. Size and color seems to change each day, the best thing to do is to commit to one streamer for a while and let the fish tell you if it is going to work or not.
As flows continue to drop the fish will be sitting in most every available water type in the Gallatin. be sure to switch up where you are focusing on fishing, the trout will start sitting just about everywhere this time of year and you can find a lot of fish without having to walk very far.
Unsure of what you should be using on the river today? Check out our pattern suggestions below or swing by our shop in Big Sky for some advice!
Dries: Trina's Stimi Stone (Tan) #8-10, AJ's Rolling Stone (Salmonfly) #8, Dornan's Water Walker (Salmonfly) #8, Parachute Adams #16-20, Chubby Chernobyl (Royal, Black/Purple) #16, Galloup's Butch Caddis (Tan) #14-16, Bloom's Parachute Caddis (Tan, Dark Olive) #14-16, Micro Chubby (Olive, Gold, Royal, Black/Purple) #14-18
Nymphs:Pat's Rubberlegs (Black, Coffee, Brown) #8-12, BH Pheasant Tail CDC #14-16, Squirminator Jig (Red, Pink) #12, Slick Chick Stone(Black) #6-10, Perdigons (Spanish Bullet, Lite Brite, Pearl and Black, Butano, Olsen's Blue Steel, Gasolina)
Streamers: Boogieman (Rootbeer) #4, Galloup's Two Tone Dungeon #4-8, Double Screamer (Olive, Black, Gold) #6, Wooly Bugger (olive, black)#10, Sparring Partner (Black/Purple) #6
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Updated reports for the Gallatin River coming to you from our backyard in beautiful Big Sky, Montana. We know this river like the back of our hands.
