Fishing Hebgen Lake
Hebgen Lake is located about 20 minutes west of West Yellowstone and is very accessible. It is also the lake that some guides believe is the finest dry fly lake in North America. Hebgen has a healthy population of browns, cutthroats and rainbows. Fly fishing can be productive whether you use wet or dry flies. Hebgen offers two distinctive hatches. The first being the Chironomid hatch with happens early season and continues on through June.
The second hatch gets going in early July with Trico and Callibaetis mayflies. The hatch continues through August and at time extends in to September. The Madison and South fork arms are a favorite amongst fly fisherman. Both are on the eastern section of Hebgen where the Madison River feeds into. Fly fishing the Hebgen arms is probably best done on a skiff or canoe. The fish move often and cover large areas. Though popular, fisherman using float tubes often find it just a little too labor intensive to keep up with moving schools of fish. The fish along the arms range 14 to 18 inches with some into the 20 inch category. For the non-fly fisherman Hebgen is just as productive. There are lots of 20 plus inch rainbows caught from trolling boats. The few boats you will see normally troll with artificial lures like rapalas, flatfish, blue foxes, panther martins. Fishermen also have good success using jigs. Hebgen is rather convenient for boats too. Within 10 -15 minutes you can be launched and ready for fishing.
See our photos below.