Fishing Montana

[mjhowe]

Wow, what a weird year here in NW Montana!!! Our perch fry never hatched in Flathead Lake due to cold spring temps, dirty, run-off stained water, and a lack of emergent weedbeds.

Due to this, the Lake Superior Whitefish bite never turned on...There seemed to be lots of fish, but they were eating something different than perch fry, therfore the usual perch imitators that normally take coolers full of fish werent working. Here it is, almost mid September and most folks figure its too late for it to kick in now.

The laker fishing on Flathead has been very very good and will keep getting better into late October/early November.

The fall Rainbow bite on Lake Kookanusa will kick off as soon as surface temps hit 53-52 degrees, and with the cool weather we have been having, that may happen sooner than usual also.

The perch bite on Flathead Lake has been staedy, you just have to find the fish. Try 30-45 feet for the big ones.

Drop me an email for any lake specific info if you are heading this way.

The Fall mack days tournament runs for 7 consecutive weeekends beginning Oct 3rd. I am going to curtail my hunting until late this year, and fish this tournament hard. Info can be found online, under "mack days"

Good Fishing!

[mjhowe]

Been fishing Flathead lake for the last 4 weekends. This past weekend was the first time I did not fish Fri-Sat-Sun, only made it out Sunday. Put 30 fish in the boat, all counting towards my total fish entered during the Fall Mack Days tournament. Jigging in 60-100 feet of water from before dawn to about 10:30 when the bite just stops.

So far I am in 19th place with 73 fish entered. My wife is in 6th place in womens division with 26 fish. This is a great tournament and a step towards controlling the numbers of lake trout here, and giving the native species a better chance of survival. We have caught some big fish this year, releasing 5-6 fish in "the slot" that's 30-36 inches. Some real healthy fish.

The event continues for the next 3 day weekends. You dont have to sign up prior, and you can check fish in 3 different check stations. find mackdays on the net for more info.

Elsewhere, Bitteroot, MacGregor and Kookanusa are all fishing great for big rainbows, the Lake Superior Whitefish are running up the Flathead River, and the shallow water fishing for big Mac's on Flathead Lake make it a great time to be fishing. With the mild weather affecting the opening days of big game season, now is a GREAT time to be on the water. Take your shotgun along and maybe even get a little waterfowl action while you're at it!

Good times to be in Montana, good times...