Hebgen Lake fishing: Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brown Trout

Target species: Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brown Trout, Arctic Grayling
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Kirkwood Marina.

The lake

Hebgen Lake covers 12,546 acres in Montana, across Gallatin County. It is a lake: 92.2% of it is 60 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 80 feet (24.4 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.

Hebgen Lake Rainbow Point.JPG
Mwest85 · CC BY 3.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 80 ft (24.4 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 92.2% of the water is 60 feet or shallower. We hold 120 depth contour lines for this water.

Madison Arm.jpg
Mwest85 · CC BY 3.0
  • 0–5 ft: 11.3% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 11.5% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 10.9% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 9.3% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 7.8% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 6% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 6.3% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 7.3% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 2.6% of the water
  • 65–70 ft: 2.2% of the water
  • 70–75 ft: 2.3% of the water
  • 75–80 ft: 0.8% of the water

Stocking: 15,718,680 fish, 1989–2023

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks records list 15,718,680 fish released into this water from 1989 to 2023.

Hebgen Lake Scenery (51867648947).jpg
Forest Service - Northern Region · Public domain
  • Rainbow Trout: 11,376,936 in 1997–2016
  • Brown Trout: 2,424,200 in 1931–1955
  • Arctic Grayling: 82,084 in 2022–2023
  • Cutthroat Trout: 46,600 in 1932

2 more species on the stocking list.

4 target fish, led by Rainbow Trout

  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Cutthroat Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Arctic Grayling — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Also recorded here: Lake Trout.

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Kirkwood Marina — West Yellowstone. 114500 Hebgen Lake Road, West Yellowstone 59758

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 12,546 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.