Montana Fish Report

Water Temperature (Wahweap Bay) 78-84 F, Lake Elevation 3,549.53 MSL (and dropping) as of 8/25/2025. Latest report Aug. 13 courtesy of Dan Keller (www.wayneswords.net): The lake is still quite busy. However, crowds have thinned out significantly now that school is back in session. With any luck we will soon get rainstorms to moderate the hot / dry air and bring some relief to the many large wildfires. Fish respond well to cooler cloudy days and drops in barometric pressure associated with passing rainstorms. It can be tricky, but if you can time a late summer trip just prior to approaching storms, you will likely be rewarded with fantastic fishing; just be prepared to deal with the storm if you get caught in it! 

Stripers are still feeding on the surface lakewide. Based on recent reports, some good areas to target include Padre Bay, mile marker 25, and 39A (on the south end). Most of the stripers in boils will be 14-15 inches in good condition. The older stripers are in poor condition and have been experiencing die-offs lakewide, especially on the south end where shad numbers are very low. I have read reports of striper boils at Padre Bay mid-day, Hansen Creek in the evenings, and Iceberg Canyon in the mornings. No pattern there, so my recommendation is focus on bass fishing that has been consistent for this time of year and be ready for striper boils, as they could fire up anytime. 

Tim Patrick recently reported good fishing along rocky shorelines for smallmouth and largemouth bass using a jig head and swimbait. Tim mostly used the 6th Sense divine swimbait in any variety of shad colors, but the color "Shad Scream" out-produced other colors 2 to 1. Tim also caught fish on topwater with a Yo-Zuri pencil bait, gold buzz baits and a Whopper Plopper. If launching from Bullfrog, the debate often is should you head north or south? Well, you can’t go wrong either way, good fishing can be found in the north including Forgotten, Smith Fork, Hansen Creek, Crystal Spring, Knowles, Cedar Canyon, or anywhere in the Good Hope Bay area. South of Bullfrog consider Halls Creek, Lost Eden, Iceberg, Rincon, Escalante. 

Bass fishing will remain fair to good for the rest of August and get better when temperatures cool down in September. We will be doing electrofishing surveys in mid-September, and I will be sure to report back on what we find. We know shad numbers are down; however, sunfish populations are trending up and that has really helped bass in the absence of shad.