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]
| Bighorn Lake | |
|---|---|
 Southwestern part | |
  Bighorn Lake  Bighorn Lake | |
| Location | Big Horn / Carbon counties in Montana; and Big Horn County in Wyoming |
| Coordinates | 45°18′28″N 107°57′27″W / 45.30778°N 107.95750°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Bighorn River |
| Primary outflows | Bighorn River |
| Catchment area | 20,000 square miles (50,000 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
Geography
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]
| 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 |