Bighorn Lake

Bighorn Lake
Southwestern part
Bighorn Lake Show map of Montana Bighorn Lake Show map of the United States
Location	Big Horn / Carbon counties in Montana; and Big Horn County in Wyoming
Coordinates	45°18′28″N107°57′27″W / 45.30778°N 107.95750°W / 45.30778; -107.95750
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Bighorn River
Primary outflows	Bighorn River
Catchment area	20,000 square miles (50,000 km2)
Basin  countries	United States

Bighorn Lake is a reservoir behind Yellowtail Dam within the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, located in northern Wyoming and extending into southern Montana. ^[1]

Geography

Eastern section of Bighorn Lake reservoir in Bighorn Canyon.

The reservoir is 40 mi (64 km) south of Billings, Montana. It stretches the entire 72 mi (115 km) length of the Bighorn Canyon at full pool. The Lake was created by the 1965 construction of Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn River, near Fort Smith, Montana. ^[2]

Fishing

Bighorn Lake has a surface area of 5574 acres, because of the dam, streamflow in the river is relatively stable with little daily fluctuation. Bighorn Lake supports a warmwater fishery. ^[3]

Fish species within the lake

Species	Family	Class	Native to MT
Black Bullhead	Catfish	Warmwater	Introduced
Black Crappie	Sunfish	Warmwater	Introduced
Brook Trout	Trout	Coldwater	Introduced
Brown Trout	Trout	Coldwater	Introduced
Burbot	Codfish	Coldwater	Native
Channel Catfish	Catfish	Warmwater	Native
Common Carp	Minnow	Warmwater	Introduced
Emerald Shiner	Minnow	Warmwater	Native
Fathead Minnow	Minnow	Warmwater	Native
Flathead Chub	Minnow	Warmwater	Native
Green Sunfish	Sunfish	Warmwater	Introduced
Largemouth Bass	Sunfish	Warmwater	Introduced
Longnose Dace	Minnow	Warmwater	Native
Longnose Sucker	Sucker	Warmwater	Native
Mountain Whitefish	Trout	Coldwater	Native
Plains Minnow	Minnow	Warmwater	Native
Pumpkinseed	Sunfish	Warmwater	Introduced
Rainbow Trout	Trout	Coldwater	Introduced
River Carpsucker	Sucker	Warmwater	Native
Sauger	Perch	Warmwater	Native
Shorthead Redhorse	Sucker	Warmwater	Native
Shovelnose Sturgeon	Sturgeon	Warmwater	Native
Smallmouth Bass	Sunfish	Warmwater	Introduced
Spottail Shiner	Minnow	Warmwater	Introduced
Stonecat	Catfish		Native
Walleye	Perch	Warmwater	Introduced
Western Silvery Minnow	Minnow	Warmwater	Native
White Crappie	Sunfish	Warmwater	Introduced
White Sucker	Sucker	Warmwater	Native
Yellow Perch	Perch	Warmwater	Introduced

References

1. "National Park Service- Bighorn Canyon".
2. "National Park Foundation- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area".
3. "FISHMT :: Waterbody Details". myfwp.mt.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-13.

See also

• Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area topics