Bighorn River fishing guide

Public access & launches

• General CusterMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• BighornMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• Two LegginsMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• Mallard's LandingMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• Grant MarshMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• Manuel LisaMontana FWP
  Boat launch

Regulations

• Central Fishing District

  Entire river A State of Montana Fishing License is required for all anglers to fish on the Bighorn River within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation. A tribal permit is not required. Afterbay Dam to cable 600 feet downstream and downstream from Bighorn FAS May use live non-game bait fish (as identified in Standard District Regulations). Cable 600 feet below Afterbay Dam to Bighorn FAS Artificial lures only. BLACKTAIL DEER CREEK (Beaverhead River drainage) Combined trout: all may be cutthroat trout.

• Entire river

  A State of Montana Fishing License is required for all anglers to fish on the Bighorn River within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation. A tribal permit is not required.

• Afterbay Dam to cable 600 feet downstream and downstream from Bighorn FAS

  May use live nongame bait fish (as identified in Standard District Regulations).

• All species

  Fishing From Boats/Vessels: When a water is closed to Fishing From Boats/Vessels, an angler may not fish while on any boat or vessel. However, an angler may use a boat or vessel to access wade fishing opportunities; the angler must be completely out of the boat or vessel while wade fishing.

• All species

  Fishing Methods: Fish may be taken only by hook and line or other approved methods. Regulations for the taking of fish are listed in the standard regulations for each fishing district (see pages 23, 50 & 79).

• All species

  Handling and Transporting Legally Taken Fish: While fishing or on the water/ice, all fish in possession must be visibly identifiable to species. Unless size limits apply, fish may be cleaned prior to transport so long as the entire skin remains attached to the fish or fillet for identification. Two fillets will be counted as one fish. If frozen prior to transport, each fish or fillet must be packaged so it can be counted. Consumption of fish on the ice or water is allowed but counts toward daily limit.

• All species

  Float Outfitting: When a water is closed to Float Outfitting, the operation of any boat or vessel for the commercial purpose of float fishing by a fishing outfitter or fishing guide is prohibited.

• All species

  Ice Fishing - Size of Hole: In waters not open to spearing, the maximum size hole that may be used for ice fishing is 144 square inches or 12 inches in diameter. There is no size limit for a hole used for fishing with a spear.

• All species

  Ice Fishing Shelters: Unlawful to use any ice fishing shelter not conforming to waste/rubbish disposal rules. Owners/occupants must keep shelters and surrounding area free from rubbish and trash and remove waste materials before leaving for the day. Daily removal of shelters required on some waterbodies (see district exceptions). Owner must remove shelter from ice before it becomes irretrievable at end of season, or within five days of notification from FWP.

• All species

  Once off the water, fish may be dressed, filleted, and skin removed for transport to permanent residence, unless size limits apply: all fish can be counted and identified; two fillets counted as one fish; frozen catch must be packaged so it can be counted. Salmonids (trout, salmon, arctic grayling, char and whitefish): entire skin must remain attached to the fillet for identification.

As of 2026-08-28.Guidance, not legal advice — always confirm current rules with the state.Official Montana regulations

What’s in it

Recorded in/near this water. Occurrence-based unless a higher-confidence source is shown — see it per-species in the app.

More Montana fishing

Montana field notes

Bozeman, MT

Bozeman Built a Trail System Out of Handshakes and Easements

Nearly 100 miles of trail start inside Bozeman and run to the mountains, and most of it exists because a land trust spent thirty-five years negotiating easements across private ranchland one landowner at a time. The M and Drinking Horse are the famous pair. The system behind them is the actual story.

Missoula, MT

Missoula Hikes You Can Walk To From Downtown

A university town of 78,000 people sits where five valleys meet, with a mountain rising straight off the campus and a 61,000-acre wilderness up the road behind the houses. The famous hike takes forty minutes and most of the town has done it drunk at least once.

West Glacier, MT

The Highline Trail's Hand Cable Is the Least Frightening Part

Every photograph of this trail shows the same thing: a narrow ledge, a garden hose of steel cable bolted to the rock, and a very long way down. In practice that section takes four minutes and the tread is excellent. The parts worth thinking about come later: the shuttle you must book, the parking cap, and the grizzlies.

Babb, MT

Grinnell Glacier Before It's Gone: The Boat Shortcut, the Bears, and the Best Light

A trail cut into a cliff above two turquoise lakes, ending at a glacier that has been measured shrinking for a century. There is a boat that removes 3.4 miles of it, a mid-July opening date that catches people out, and enough grizzly activity that bear spray is standard equipment rather than a precaution.

West Yellowstone, MT

Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park: Cutthroat in the Meadows, Wolves on the Ridge, and the Strangest Trout Stream on Earth

Yellowstone holds the largest concentration of wild cutthroat trout in the world, a river that flows past erupting geysers, and backcountry meadow streams where you fish with bison grazing behind you and wolves howling at dusk. It's not just fly fishing. It's fly fishing inside the world's first national park.

West Glacier, MT

Fly Fishing Glacier National Park: Native Cutthroat, Wild Rivers, and Backcountry Water That Hasn't Changed in a Thousand Years

Glacier National Park holds 700 miles of streams and over 130 named lakes, most of them holding native westslope cutthroat trout that have never seen a hatchery. The fishing is wild, the setting is the most dramatic in North America, and the native fish are counting on you to handle them with care.

Bighorn River fishing — FAQ