FISHING
Road Trip: Hebgen Hosts Big Trout The Yellowstone-area lake is home to challenging rainbows and browns known as ‘gulpers’ for their surface feeding, but also excellent nymphing.
By Mike Wright
O
ne of the very best trout fishing destinations in the entire country is where Southwest Montana and Southeast Idaho come together. The region boasts several outstanding blue-ribbon streams, such as the Madison, Henrys Fork and South Fork Snake Rivers, plus a multitude of smaller, but highly productive streams.
However, as good as these flowing waters are, probably the best trophy fishing in this area lies in the stillwater fisheries within roughly an hour’s drive of West Yellowstone, Montana. That includes two outstanding trophy fishing lakes in Idaho, Island Park Reservoir and Henrys Lake (Northwest Sportsman, November 2020), and four lakes, Hebgen, Quake, Cliff and Wade, in Montana.
Henrys Lake is managed specifically as a trophy fishery, but the other five do not have any special regulations. However, each does contain a considerable number of trophy-sized fish. Although most anglers would consider Henrys to be the top trophy lake in the area, all of these other bodies of water offer excellent fishing opportunities for large trout. As an example, the Treasure State’s
It’s a fair pedal from our region, but the Yellowstone area’s Hebgen Lake is a trophy trout destination that shines in late spring and summer. (MWEST85, WIKIPEDIA, CC BY-3.0) nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2021
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