Fly Fishing Blacktail Deer Creek - Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park

**Blacktail Deer Creek.** This is a
small fast, pocket water stream
that flows into the Black Canyon
of the Yellowstone River.

the Blacktail Deer Creek. Some
approach 10 inches long.

**Brook trout** are plentiful in this
stream. Catching them is a lot of
fun even though they are small.

Blacktail Deer Creek is a beautiful, small, fast flowing tributary of the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone River. For the most part, it’s a rough and tumble stream that can be a little difficult to get around in. The banks are cluttered with brush and bushes in many places making it difficult to get around in outside of the stream itself. It also means short cast are all that’s necessary. Roll cast are often all you need. The fish aren’t picky at all. The trout are brook trout that probably average between 5and 10 inches in length.

Access:
Blacktail Deer Trail, which starts at the bridge where the Grand Loop Road crosses Blacktail Deer Creek, follows the stream for about 4 miles to its confluence with the Yellowstone River. At that point it’s outside of the park boundaries. The trail allows access to both the Blacktail Deer Creek and the Yellowstone River. You would probably need to camp at one of the backcountry campsites to fish much of the Yellowstone River from this trail. If you travel upstream on the trail from the Grand Loop Road you can fish the upper part or headwaters of the Blacktail Deer Creek.

Comments:
This is an excellent stream to stop and fish on your way around the loop to and from other park fishing destinations. It’s not easy to get around in the part near the road but some parts of the upper portion of the stream are not that difficult to negotiate. You would have to hike a little ways to reach the better areas of the stream. The lower part of the stream, or the part below the road, is quite rough.

This stream usually has an excellent population of brook trout. We have taken some approaching ten inches long but most of them are smaller than that. We have been able to catch as many as thirty or more within a couple of hours. About the only pressure the stream gets from anglers is in the immediate area of the bridge on the Grand Look Road. Hiking a short ways will get you to better water.