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Bighorn River

Type
Tailwater, Montana (West)
Designation
Featured sport-fishing water · Among the state's most-fished waters (agency angler survey) +1
USGS gauges
1 live
Guides
5 name it
Shops
4 nearby

Today on the Bighorn River

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

The Bighorn River is a tailwater in Montana, listed as Featured sport-fishing water by National Park Service (Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area).

More about the Bighorn River

1 USGS gauge on the water reports flow. 6 guides and 4 shops nearby are listed here.

Updated · Sources: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area: fishing waters (Bighorn Lake, the Afterbay, the Bighorn River), USGS Water Data

The clear green Bighorn River flowing past pale rock and sagebrush, seen from a footbridge
Photo credit

The Bighorn River from the Swinging Bridge, Montana. Photo: charkes, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where it is

Bighorn River is a tailwater in Montana.

Flow now at the gauge
Reading the gauges…

Check any river's flow

Follow Bighorn River for flow alerts

Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Montana FWP fishing access sites

Bighorn River on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Bighorn River: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of Bighorn River with 1 USGS gauge, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

Restrooms near Bighorn River

Restrooms near Bighorn River

Restrooms within 2 miles of Bighorn River in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.

Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near Bighorn River

  • Ennis Lake partly iced over in early spring, with the snow-covered Madison Range across the waterFeatured sport-fishing waterRepresentative photo · not Bighorn Lake
    Photo credit

    Ennis Lake, Montana, in March, with the Madison Range beyond. Photo: Gloria Cabada-Leman, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr Not Bighorn Lake.

    Bighorn Lake

    Montana · about 24 mi

    Rainbow trout, brown trout & common carp

  • Marshy shallows at the edge of Henrys Lake, with the Henrys Lake Mountains behindAmong the state's most-fished waters (agency angler survey)Representative photo · not Lake Elmo
    Photo credit

    Henrys Lake from Henrys Lake State Park, Idaho. Photo: James Postema, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Lake Elmo.

    Lake Elmo

    Montana · about 44 mi

  • Navajo Lake's blue water and mesa shoreline seen through juniper from Navajo Lake State ParkAmong the state's most-fished waters (agency angler survey)Representative photo · not Tongue River Reservoir
    Photo credit

    Navajo Lake from Navajo Lake State Park, New Mexico. Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Tongue River Reservoir.

    Tongue River Reservoir

    Montana · about 54 mi

  • The Boulder River running open between snowy banks and bare cottonwoods in Sweet Grass CountyAmong the state's most-fished waters (agency angler survey)Representative photo · not Tongue River
    Photo credit

    The Boulder River in Sweet Grass County, Montana, in February. Photo: USDA NRCS Montana, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Tongue River.

    Tongue River

    Montana · about 63 mi

  • The broad lower Yellowstone River bending past a sandbar below badland bluffs near Terry, MontanaAmong the state's most-fished waters (agency angler survey)Representative photo · not Stillwater River
    Photo credit

    The lower Yellowstone River at the Badlands Fishing Access Site near Terry, eastern Montana (far downstream of the Paradise Valley trout water). Photo: Bureau of Land Management Montana-Dakotas, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Stillwater River.

    Stillwater River

    Montana · about 81 mi

  • Lake Billy Chinook filling a basalt canyon, with layered rimrock cliffs along the waterAmong the state's most-fished waters (agency angler survey)Representative photo · not Wild Bill Lake
    Photo credit

    Lake Billy Chinook, Oregon. Photo: icetsarina, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Wild Bill Lake.

    Wild Bill Lake

    Montana · about 81 mi

Sources Montana FWP fishing access sitesOverture Maps places (guide map points)

Where the map point comes from

Position: the USGS gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT.

The map shows USGS gauges (tap one for its flow reading), and shops and guides within 40 miles that publish a street address on their own website. Everyone else is in the lists below.

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

3 official designations

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water. Listed in the finder under trout.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Length
289.9 mi (127.9 in MT)
Drains
33,200 sq mi
Drop
1,673 ft · 5.8 ft/mi
Flows into
Yellowstone River
Watershed
Upper Bighorn, Big Horn Lake, Lower Bighorn

Public land along it

About this

Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-05) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

27.2 of 285.2 mi on public land

  • Bighorn Canyon National Recreation AreaNational Park Service · 24.2 mi
  • State Lands 1111129503State Land Board · 0.8 mi
  • Montana Fish, Wildlife and ParksState Fish and Wildlife · 0.6 mi
  • Worland Field OfficeBureau of Land Management · 0.5 mi
  • Cody Field OfficeBureau of Land Management · 0.4 mi
  • Grant Marsh Wildlife Management AreaState Fish and Wildlife · 0.3 mi · restricted
  • State Lands 1111128466State Land Board · 0.3 mi
  • State Lands 1111128314State Land Board · 0.2 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Bighorn River

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

5 guides name it on their website

Guides

All Montana guides

4 shops nearby

All Montana shops

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. After them, fly-focused guides within 40 miles whose website does not name it. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

The hatch and season chart for this water's region.

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Northern Rockies
About this chart

5 hatches charted for the region, not measured on this water. From Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

  1. January: no charted hatch
  2. February: no charted hatch
  3. March: no charted hatch
  4. April: no charted hatch
  5. May: 3 charted hatches
  6. June: 2 charted hatches
  7. July: 2 charted hatches
  8. August: 1 charted hatch
  9. September: 1 charted hatch
  10. October: no charted hatch
  11. November: no charted hatch
  12. December: no charted hatch

Mother's Day caddis (Grannom) (May) · Salmonfly (May to June) · Salmonfly (May to July) · Salmonfly (July) · Trico (August to September)

Plan a trip here

About this

None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

No hub within 40 miles

Plan a trip here

Gear checklist

About this

A wade-fishing checklist for big western trout rivers: a 9 ft 5–6 weight outfit, nymph, dry and streamer setups, waders, boots and a wading staff, with estimated prices by tier and where to buy.

A woman in waders and a sun hat wades a broad river and casts, bluffs on the far bank

Big western rivers (wade fishing)

9′ rod, 5–6 weight, floating line · Rainbow and brown trout, whitefish

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Bighorn River.

No stories from here yet.

Write the first story Share your day

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 15 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the USGS gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT. Water type is our own classification.