We think Duck Creek is a great
place to fish during the Fall when the brown trout are moving out of Hebgen to spawn. So far, this is the only time of the year we have fished the stream.
The creek is easy to reach, yet we are told that few people fish it other than a few local residents that live nearby. It is a beautiful meadow stream that few people take the opportunity to visit, much less fish.
Duck Creek is primarily a meadow stream that flows from Yellowstone National Park about 7 or 8 miles north of the town of West Yellowstone. The main tributary of Duck Creek is Maple Creek. This can get a little confusing because Maple Creek is also called Cougar Creek. It crosses highway #191 just north of West Yellowstone, Montana.
Tributary Streams:
Campanula , Gneiss Creek, Richards and Cougar Creek are all small tributary streams to Duck Creek. Although all of these small tributary streams have populations of trout, Duck Creek usually offers better fishing and are usually completely void of other anglers.
Access:
You can access Duck Creek by taking highway #191 north from the town of West Yellowstone and then taking the Duck Creek Road. The road will lead you to the park boundary and Duck Creek.
Stream Description:
These are willow tree lined and grass bank streams with mostly slow moving, smooth flowing water. Presentation is important in the smooth water and the trout are not pushovers but they are plentiful.
The brook trout are usually fairly easy to catch and some larger size ones are in the stream. In the late summer months, terrestrial insects work great. The banks of the stream is lined with high grass and there are huge numbers of grass hoppers. Both the brown trout and the brook trout have a feast during a windy day.
Caution:
Travel in the area is restricted by the Bear Management Plan. Be sure to check the current plan restrictions before traveling into the park in this area. Many of the small streams in this area are enclosed with thick stands of willow trees. Under these conditions, both moose and bears can be close to you without your being able to see them. We usually make plenty of noise to let them know we are there.
Trout:
Smaller brown and brook trout are its resident fish but spawning fish out of Hebgen Lake migrate into the stream during the Fall months. Much larger trout can usually be found in Duck Creek at that time of the year.
Comments:
These streams are rarely fished by anyone other than the locals. They are sleepers in our opinion. At the right time of the season they can produce plenty of larger size fish. These beautiful scenes were taken not far from highway #191 not far inside the park boundary.
Copyright 2011 James Marsh
