Waters · United States
Bighorn River (Fort Smith) fishing report
Updated Tuesday, 25 August 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: fair (46/100)
Rainbow Trout is the most promising species on Bighorn River (Fort Smith) today. Water temperature at the gauge is 11.4°C (53°F) and barometric pressure is rising. Gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT shows the water level falling (1 cm/24h).
Bighorn River (Fort Smith) water temperature and flow
- Water temperature: 11.4°C (53°F)
- Discharge: 37.1 m³/s (1,310 cfs) — down 0% over 24 hours
- Level trend: falling (1 cm/24h)
Measured at gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT · reading 37 min ago. Published by the national hydrological service, not estimated by us.
Best time to fish today
- 06:00–08:00 local time — score 47/100
- 11:00–13:00 local time — score 42/100
- 03:00–05:00 local time — score 44/100
3-day outlook by species
| Species | Tuesday 25 Aug | Wednesday 26 Aug | Thursday 27 Aug |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Trout | 46 — fair | 43 — fair | 35 — poor |
| Rainbow Trout | 46 — fair | 43 — fair | 38 — poor |
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:
- pressure trend: helping (+1)
- water temperature: helping (+0.96)
- cloud cover: helping (+0.9)
- precipitation: helping (+0.9)
- light: helping (+0.85)
- river flow: helping (+0.85)
Forecast computed Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:07:06 GMT · data: Open-Meteo + gauge Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT · refreshed automatically through the day · see our published accuracy
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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)