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Wyoming trout fishing belongs in a different category. The Bighorn River below Yellowtail Dam near Fort Smith is ranked among the top 10 trout streams in the world by most serious rankings — cold, clear tailwater producing rainbow and brown trout over 20 inches in a high desert canyon. The North Fork of the Shoshone River above Cody winds into the Absaroka Range with wild cutthroat in clear mountain water.
Yellowstone National Park holds the most intact native trout ecosystem in the lower 48 — the Firehole, Madison, and Yellowstone Rivers within the park are productive and carefully managed. The Green River in the Bridger-Teton region holds large brown trout.
Resident licenses cost $27. Wyoming is a state where nearly every accessible piece of water holds fish. The fishing infrastructure is modest outside the Bighorn and Jackson Hole areas — this is not Colorado or Montana with fly shops every 20 miles. But the wilderness and the fish are genuine. If you move to Cody, you are 90 minutes from the Bighorn tailwater. If you move to Jackson, you are on the Snake.
Wyoming's Bighorn River below Yellowtail Dam near Thermopolis is considered one of the top ten trout streams in the world. The North Fork of the Shoshone in the Absaroka Range holds wild cutthroat trout in country rarely visited. Wyoming has no natural lakes without trout — every piece of accessible water holds fish.
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Sources: State wildlife agencies, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Bassmaster, Field & Stream, In-Fisherman, Fly Fisherman magazine. License costs reflect annual resident/non-resident fishing license only; additional stamps (trout, salmon) may apply. Updated May 2026.