Freestone · Mixed · Wyoming/Montana, US

Soda Butte Creek

Soda Butte Creek venue image

Soda Butte is the Lamar's roadside tributary — pocket water and runs you can step into right off the Northeast Entrance road, holding native Yellowstone cutthroat that don't make you work too hard for the privilege.

Tomorrow · A proper day on the water
Sculpin Streamer
Forecast · Tomorrow
A proper day on the water
A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
75% projected
Today's fly
Sculpin Streamer
Sculpin Streamer
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.37 m
Water temp10.0°C
ClarityClear
Weather12°C
WindN 8 km/h
Pressure1014 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Cutthroat Trout
Ideal
10°C est.ideal 9–15°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Cutthroat Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
terrestrials
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 90%
Also:Black Midge63%
Peak emergence window5 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Western Blue-Winged Olive (Western Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Cutthroat Trout fly box
SD
Sex Dungeon
2-6 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Yellowstone NP licence and native-cutthroat rules (barbless catch-and-release).
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Lamar River
8.0 km
80
Cutthroat trout
Slough Creek
14 km
80
Cutthroat trout
Gardner River
43 km
79
Cutthroat trout · Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Yellowstone Lake
48 km
Cutthroat trout
Gibbon River
49 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Soda Butte is the Lamar's roadside tributary — pocket water and runs you can step into right off the Northeast Entrance road, holding native Yellowstone cutthroat that don't make you work too hard for the privilege. It clears earlier than the main Lamar, so when a storm has the big river the color of coffee, this is often where you go to actually catch something. Barbless catch-and-release under Park rules.

  • Mixed
Conservation note

Native Yellowstone cutthroat — barbless catch-and-release under Park rules.

Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Not assessed
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Soda Butte Creek' (MT43B002_031), 2021 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Insufficient Information. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · MT43B002_031

The full read · show the working · for Cutthroat Trout · confidence 75%
How the 76 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature91 × 28%25.5
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity58 × 12%7.0
Conditions total= 77
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout Saturday of Memorial Day weekend → First Sunday in November
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts