Lower Shoshone tailwater, Buffalo Bill Dam to Corbett
The North and South Forks meet in Buffalo Bill Reservoir west of Cody, and the Shoshone leaves Buffalo Bill Dam through a steep canyon that US-14/16/20 tunnels past rather than follows; the canyon itself is mostly out of reach. Below the canyon the river runs through Cody and on to the Corbett irrigation diversion, the 15 mile reach Wyoming Game and Fish protects with an instream flow right. Access is at pullouts along US-14 between the dam and town, in Cody itself, and at the WY-120 bridge north of town. North Fork Anglers in Cody posts the dam release and conditions for this reach, which they call the Low Sho.
The tailwater below the dam has no active USGS gauge (the below-reservoir station stopped reporting in 2016), so releases have to be read from the Bureau of Reclamation or the shop report. The USGS gauge this page tracks is the North Fork at Wapiti above the reservoir.
North Fork Shoshone, Wapiti to Yellowstone
The North Fork is the river along US-14/16/20 from Buffalo Bill Reservoir up the Wapiti Valley to Pahaska and Yellowstone's East Entrance, a freestone with Shoshone National Forest campgrounds and pullouts most of the way. It carries rainbows, Yellowstone cutthroat, browns and whitefish and clears after runoff in July. The Wapiti gauge on this page measures this river. The reach from Newton Creek down to Gibbs Bridge closes in spring to protect spawning fish, and in 2026 the North Fork was hammered by summer flooding; local reports in September said fish numbers were badly reduced.
South Fork Shoshone
The South Fork comes in from the Absarokas south of Cody along the South Fork Road, a smaller freestone with rainbows, cutthroat and browns. Its Valley School gauge was offline in September 2026, and it is the fall alternative when the North Fork is muddy.
Brown trout
Browns are the fish of the tailwater below the dam, holding in the deep runs through and below Cody and feeding on sowbugs, worms and stonefly nymphs. Streamers in October before the spawn are the reliable way to find the biggest of them. The canyon and tailwater run murky for weeks after heavy rain, as they did through the late summer of 2026.
Rainbows, cutthroat and whitefish
Rainbows and cutthroat are the North Fork's fish and mix with browns in the tailwater; whitefish are everywhere. Caddis, golden stones and PMDs carry the summer on the North Fork and hoppers take over along the ranch banks from late July, while the tailwater is a sowbug and midge fishery most of the year.
Season and regulations
Both rivers fish year-round where the road stays open, with the tailwater the winter option. On the North Fork the USGS gauge at Wapiti averages about 3,700 cfs in June, drops to 500 cfs by August and around 350 cfs in September and October, so this page compares it to a 200 to 800 cfs wading range; the tailwater's release is a separate number.
Shoshone River drainage streams from Buffalo Bill Dam downstream to Bighorn Lake: 6 trout per day, no more than 1 over 16 inches. North Fork of the Shoshone drainage from Newton Creek to Gibbs Bridge: closed April 15 through June 30 (2026-27 regulations); upstream of Gibbs Bridge the trout limit is 2. Buffalo Bill Reservoir carries its own creel limits. Confirm the current Wyoming Game and Fish Area 2 regulations before you go.