Freestone · Mixed · Wyoming/Montana, US

Soda Butte Creek

Soda Butte Creek terrain map

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 · About as good as it gets
Sculpin Streamer
Forecast · Tomorrow
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% projected
Today's fly
Sculpin Streamer
Sculpin Streamer
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp10.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 11 km/h
Pressure1008 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead1.7 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

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: 81%
Also:Black Midge51%
Peak emergence window6 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

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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
Cutthroat trout
Slough Creek
14 km
Cutthroat trout
Gardner River
43 km
Cutthroat trout · Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Yellowstone Lake
48 km
Cutthroat trout
Gibbon River
49 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
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 75 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow60 × 22%13.2
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity59 × 12%7.1
Conditions total= 75
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