Waters · United States
Bighorn River (Fort Smith) fishing report
Updated Friday, 9 October 2026 · refreshed automatically through the day
Thirteen miles of tailwater below Yellowtail Dam, holding thousands of trout per mile in water that sits between 4 and 12°C all year. The fishery lives and dies by the release out of Bighorn Lake.
Today's report: excellent (84/100)
Brown Trout is the most promising species on Bighorn River (Fort Smith) today. Water temperature at the gauge is 13.8°C (57°F) and barometric pressure is rising. Gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT shows the water level falling (0 cm/24h).
Bighorn River (Fort Smith) water temperature and flow
- Water temperature: 13.8°C (57°F)
- Discharge: 45.0 m³/s (1,589 cfs) — down 1% over 24 hours
- Level trend: falling (0 cm/24h)
Measured at gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT · reading 32 min ago. Published by the national hydrological service, not estimated by us.
Best time to fish today
- 02:00–04:00 local time — score 84/100
- 07:00–09:00 local time — score 90/100
- 19:00–21:00 local time — score 88/100
3-day outlook by species
| Species | Friday 9 Oct | Saturday 10 Oct | Sunday 11 Oct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Trout | 84 — excellent | 88 — excellent | 90 — excellent |
| Rainbow Trout | 71 — good | 83 — excellent | 77 — good |
Why this score
Cast & Scan uses a deterministic, published scoring model — no black box. The strongest influences on today's Bighorn River (Fort Smith) rating:
- water temperature: helping (+1)
- pressure trend: helping (+1)
- season: helping (+1)
- wind: helping (+0.9)
- precipitation: helping (+0.9)
- cloud cover: helping (+0.85)
Forecast computed Sat, 10 Oct 2026 03:02:00 GMT · data: Open-Meteo + gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT · refreshed automatically through the day · see our published accuracy
Wondering how this stacks up against the apps you already know? Cast & Scan vs Fishbrain vs BassForecast — an honest comparison, including where they beat us.
Read before you go
- Trout stream tactics, read through the forecast
- How river flow trend changes the bite
- Barometric pressure and fishing, explained
More brown trout waters
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Nearby waters
- Yellowstone River (Livingston) — Montana, USA (220 km away)
- Wind River (Boysen) — Wyoming, USA (262 km away)
- Gallatin River (Logan) — Montana, USA (291 km away)
- Madison River (Ennis) — Montana, USA (310 km away)
- South Fork Snake River (Irwin) — Idaho, USA (362 km away)
- Missouri River (Craig) — Montana, USA (369 km away)