Montana Ice Fishing Reports

[OnAFly]

SportFishin - What are the chances the Mo (between Craig and Cascade) will be cleared up, or at least fishable, by next week?

I'm heading up there for a few days before we hit the Smith.

[SportFishin']

It might be fishable but the flows will be high yet. We have had a very unusually wet spring this year which the rain has kept on going into the start of summer so far. Very wet!!! As locals we are tired of all the rain,but great for waterfowl production!!!

Snow is just starting to melt in the High Elev. Most of the rivers are fishable by floating them but they are saying to not wade fish yet the flows are really strong. The hatches are also behind this year. We have been waiting for the temps to warm up so the salmon fly hatch will happen the temps have even curbed the BWO's & Stones so far. The Yellowstone is really dangerous right now it has just came up in the last week we saw 60 foot cottonwoods being pushed down stream this weekend.

I have been dieing to get out but the smaller waters are still to strong & cold to wade yet.

Tight Lines!

Chris

[OnAFly]

Yeah, I checked out the flows coming out of Holter. They are about 2X normal, so looks like all my woolybugger and worm tying was time well spent. With snow melt causing the high flows, I suppose the rivers will be high for a while.

Thanks for the update. I'll be there in 4 days, can't wait!

[SportFishin']

OnAFly,

Have fun & good luck on your trip. I will be up north of Lewistown for my sons Boy Scout "Order of the Arrow" Ordeal this weekend and going to hit some of the smaller streams while I'm up that way if I can sneak away.

Wouldn't hurt to throw a few split shot in front of your buggers to get them down in the flows better. Big go to fly out west here is the Prince nymph you could tie a couple of those heavier & larger. Another would be the Montana stone with lead wire under a b"i"tch weave in black/yellow or Brown/light green.

Regards,

Chris

[Jackpine Rob]

Spent a little time in the Bozeman area last week, while my son did his college orientation at MSU. The sheer quantity of trout water is daunting! Where does a guy even start?!

Being your typical Midwestern walleye guy, I haven't cast a fly rod in decades, and my fly equipment simply isn't up to the task any more. Soooo, I tossed a couple of light spinning outfits in the trunk, and that's what I had to work with.

Checked with the Forest Service for maps (worthwhile), the Game and Fish folks for regs and tips (waste of time) and a couple of fly shops for hints (very useful).

After talking with the owner of one fly shop, I headed up a winding canyon road to a reservoir which contained cutthroats and grayling. The inlet river was still closed to fishing due to spawning cutthroats, but the lake was open - and extremely beautiful.

My lures were simple - #0 Mepps, a couple of small beetle spins, and some crappie jigs. In the cooler sat a styrofoam container of garden hackle - to be opened in the event of emergency.

I had a blast! The wind hitting the shoreline created a mudline about 20 feet from shore, and the trout were stacked up along the edge of that mudline. Casting at an angle from shore, I smacked a couple of quick ones. The male cutthroat are gorgeous fish - with plenty of red.

The wind got pretty vicious, so I pulled out the garden hackle and a bobber, and the action was fast and furious - as long as kept the bait in the clear water. The regs allowed for 2 lines, and for a bit I was able to pull that off, but mostly it was just casting the Mepps. About mid-afternoon I finally got a grayling, but it jumped out of my hand before I could snap a picture. The graylings are C&R only, and I kept it in the water for the release. Pretty fish.

At one point a doe mulie walked within 15 yards of me, munching as she went.

The following day, we took a drive down to West Yellowstone, and on the way back tried our luck in the Gallatin. It seemed like every pullout had a truck or a car in it - but we managed to find a couple of open spots and picked up a couple of smaller trouts - both rainbows. Some really nice-looking water was open, but the rafting groups were going one after the other, so we opted to drive on by.

Food note: Cutthroat trout are absolutely delicious. I had kept 3 nice males for supper, and they compare very favorably with brook trout - pinkish/orange meat, and a delicate flavor.

By next year, I hope to have a decent fly outfit and enough practice under my belt to be comfortable. The whole fly scene out in that country is just outrageous. One business owner told me "Everyone fishes in Bozeman - that's why we live here!"

I'll be back.

[Jackpine Rob]

A picture of one of the cutthroats

[reinhard1]

beutifull fish. never had the oppertunity to fish for them. those red cheeks and pronounced spots make them a little different from our rainbows here. thank you and good luck.

[SportFishin']

Caught a few browns at West Rosebud Lake in the Beartooth Mtns on Sunday. Woolly Buggers & Panther Martin spinners.

All in all a great day in the apline lakes!!

Regards,

Chris

[so haaad]

Like the hat!

[SportFishin']

Yep Go Twins!!! Dont get to see them much out here in Montana but every once & awhile we catch a game at BWW here in Billings.

[Krakkon]

Hiya guys! I just signed up looks like a cool site. Headed to Deadmans tomorrow for some Kokanee I slayed em a couple weekends ago on dodgers and cowbells..

Will report back on how I do..

[SportFishin']

Welcome aboard Krakkon!

Great to have another local posting some reports. Have you been trying for muskie up there? We did good with worms and a bobber last time up there for the Kokanee.

Busy packing the house this weekend for our move to our new house in Park City in a month. So probably wont get out much in the next few weeks. Then bird season starts on Sept. 1!!!

Best Regards,

Chris

[Krakkon]

Thanks Chris

Deadmans was hot again with various cowbells and a worm trolled at 1.5 to 2 mph for Koks never have tried for muskie there.. Thinking about trying Cooney in the morning for those dang elusive walleye in that busy place..

Grats on the new house!

[tweedlap]

Welcome Krakkon,

Post a picture of one of those Koks when you can. Us prairie folks don't know

what they look like ! lol

We are fishing Flathead catfish, now. Walleyes in a couple of weeks.

tweed

[Krakkon]

Thanks for the welcome Tweed! Will make the kids pose and have the wife snap a pic of those Koks next time around..

[Rick]

How is the Ice Fishing season progressing?

[Rick]

Any of you ice fishing.

Please stop in introduce yourselves and let's have some fun in here.

[Big Nick]

Hey Rick,

Do you do any ice fishing in Montana? I'm moving just south of Missoula from Minneapolis in a couple weeks and was wondering what ice conditions were like out there.

[SportFishin']

Big Nick,

Welcome to MT! I don't have much knowledge on the ice up there. But down here in south central montana our ice is fair to good. We have had a few cold snaps of late. But the weather has been warm out here. You should be able to get on some fishable ice up there. Mostly trout in the lakes out here. Watch the reg for which lakes you can use minnows! Most MT lakes you can't use live bait. Unless it is worm or grubs. But worms are available year round out here.

Good luck with your move!

Regards,

.Chris

[PFUNK]

Nick I go to college in Missoula and have been able to do some ice fishing around Missoula this winter. Feel free to message me with any questions you might have. It has been real warm lately so the ice might start heading south pretty quickly.

[PFUNK]

SportFishn'.... I thought I read elsewhere that you were taking a trip back to Minnesota for some ice fishing (maybe Mille Lacs?) Wondering how that went for you?