island park reservoir and warm river

[fly63]

hey guys im from utah and me and my fam are heading up to yellowstone and well be staying on my cousins property really close to island park reservoir and warm river and i was just trying to find out some info on these two waters like what kind of fish are in there and what are some good things to use im a fly fishermen bait and spinner fishermen if you can help me out i would appreciate it thanks
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[BrianID]

Welcome to BFT!

Based on my experience, the upper reaches of the Warm River has mostly brook trout. There is a chance you could catch a rainbow, brown or possible a cutthroat but they won't be as common in the upper river. You may already know this but the upper reaches of the warm river is small enough to leap across in many places. It is just like fishing any creek. I like fishing renegades on creeks but I wouldn't expect the fish to be very selective. Smaller spinners, salmon eggs or a piece of nightcrawler should all work well.

Island Park reservoir mostly has rainbows but there are also a few cutthroat, hybrids and kokanee in there. I've also caught brook trout and a splake out of IP res several years ago but I wouldn't expect to catch either of those currently. I've heard anglers have been doing ok on the west end but I wouldn't expect fast fishing. Besides fish that will be feeding on damsel flies I would try around springs and fingers on the West end. Don't over look the deeper area around the dam and Bills Island either. I've also done fairly well around McRae’s Bridge. The 30-40 depth has been good for me at IP reservoir after the water has warmed up in the summer. You could catch fish with any typical trout gear that you use. I would just recommend you use something you have confidence with. Powerbait and worm/marshmallow will work for bait. Any of your favorite trolling lures would work for trout. I've done well with ford fenders, flat fish, spinners and others while trolling IP res. A downrigger or leaded line wouldn't hurt at this time of the year. I've had my best luck fly fishing at IP resevoir with PT nymphs but don't overlook damsel flies or leeches.

I haven’t fished the Warm River or Island Park Reservoir this year so take my advice for what it is worth. I’ll be fishing Island Park Reservoir in a few weeks while I spend time with family and have spent a lot of time fishing the Island Park area.

If you want to do some fly fishing you may also want to try the Henry's Fork. The Buffalo River and a number of other small streams in the area also hold fish. Good luck and we look forward to a report.
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[fly63]

hey brian thanks for all the help i appreciate it i hope i can get into some fish the part of the warm river that i will most likely be fishing is close to the reservoir i hope its bigger than that there cause i guess we are floating down it is it really warm? that what my whole family is saying. is it still brooke trout there. i will probably talk to my cousin to that owns the property there cause he does a fishing guide service up in yellow stone and he can probably help me out a little to. but thanks alot for the advice
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[fly63]

oh yeah sorry i forgot to ask you how close is the buffalo river and henrys lake to island park ive heard great things about them but i dont know if my dad would be willing to drive me far to go fish. and i went down there 6 years ago when i was ten and my cousin caught a nice fish out of ip reservoir about 19 inches is that normal or is it mostly smaller fish
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[BrianID]

The Buffalo River is right next to the East end of Island Park Reservoir. The Buffalo River mostly has small brook trout but there are a few rainbows in there as well as some brook trout that break the 10" mark. The Buffalo River is a good place to take people that are learning to fly fish. Henry's Lake is about 15??? miles north of Island Park Reservoir. There are many free online maps that will give you a better picture than I can explain. The head waters of the Warm River are close to the Island Park area. The larger part of the Warm River is about 10? miles east of Ashton. I've never noticed the Warm River being unusally warm. I would expect the water temperture on the lower warm river to be close to 70 degrees and upper warm river closer to 60 degrees right now but that is only a guess. You aren't going to get cold if you get wet floating a 70 degree river on a warm sunny day. I have floated the Henry's Fork on hot summer days around Ashton when the water was 79 degrees. When the water is that warm it is better to fish somewhere else if you want to want to release any of the trout you catch. The lower warm river has a good population of rainbows as well as a chance at catching a few brookies and browns.

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my cousin caught a nice fish out of ip reservoir about 19 inches is that normal or is it mostly smaller fish

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19 inch fish are fairly common at Island Park Reservoir. The average size and the number of fish caught can fluctuate significantly. Some years most of the fish I've caught are 14" or smaller. Other years the fish will average over 16" with fish over 20" being fairly common. I know guys have been catching a few fish over 20" at IP res this year but I think most of the rainbows will be in the 1/2 -2 lb range. For the past 5 years Island Park Reservoir has also been a popular place to get skunked but I think the fishing this year is a little better than it has been the past few years. Take my information with a grain of salt because I haven't fished either place this year. Maybe someone else with up to date infomation will post.
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