Yellowstone Lake fishing: Cutthroat Trout, Lake Trout

Target species: Cutthroat Trout, Lake Trout

The lake

Yellowstone Lake covers 85,112 acres in Wyoming, across 2 counties: Teton and Park. It is a lake: 93.2% of it is 300 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 328 feet (100 m). Our records hold 3 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 328 ft (100 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 93.2% of the water is 300 feet or shallower. We hold 108 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–20 ft: 12.1% of the water
  • 20–40 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 40–60 ft: 5.9% of the water
  • 60–80 ft: 6.2% of the water
  • 80–100 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 100–120 ft: 5.3% of the water
  • 120–140 ft: 5% of the water
  • 140–160 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 160–180 ft: 6.2% of the water
  • 180–200 ft: 5.6% of the water
  • 200–220 ft: 4.2% of the water
  • 220–240 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 240–260 ft: 4.5% of the water
  • 260–280 ft: 8.5% of the water
  • 280–300 ft: 8.3% of the water
  • 300–320 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 320–328 ft: 0.7% of the water

2 target fish, led by Cutthroat Trout

  • Cutthroat Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Lake Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Also recorded here: Cisco.

West Thumb Basin, Yellowstone National Park (7712517636).jpg
InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 64°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7.6. These readings span 2017–2025.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 85,112 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.

Where this data comes from

  • Wyoming State Geological Survey; USGS SIM 2973 (Morgan et al., 2007) — Wyoming State Geological Survey: 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.