Montana Fish Report

Night-fishing under a submersible light continues to be the hot ticket for trout.  Fishing 20-30 feet deep under a green "moon-glow" submersible light near the dam, or under the Highway 49 Stevenot Bridge had produced limits. Use Power Bait, crawlers, or minnows, and drop bait 25 feet deep. Trollers need downriggers, or some other way to get the lure down deep. Trout are 30 to 60 feet deep during the day.    Trollers should target the main river channel, 30-50 feet deep, with shad or rainbow trout patterned Apex, Excel, Cripplure or Rapala Countdown.  Tip the lure with a small piece of crawler.  Kokanee have moved deeper with the hot weather and falling water level, and the fishing has been a little slower.  Troll 30 to 65 feet deep near the south side of the lake, from Rose Creek and the dam south over deep water.  Best bite is in the very early A.M.  Hot lures continue to be Uncle Larry's Spinners in Pink Tiger, Pink Passion, or Mad Irishman, pink or blue Sockeye Slammers, Glitterbugs UV hootchies, RK Spinners hootchies, and Apex.   Fish any lure behind a Crystal Basin Wild Thing Dodger or Slingblade in any color/pattern with pink or blue, and remember to tip your lure in shoepeg corn, Pautzke's Fire Corn, or natural Berkley maggots and use Pro-Cure scent.  Garlic, Kokanee Special, anise or Carp Spit are good choices right now.  Danny Layne of Fishin' Dan's Guide Service says kokanee are moving much deeper now.  He found limits of kokanee for clients, trolling from 35 to 85 feet deep off Glory Hole Point, near Rose Island, and near the dam.  For bass, fish creature baits such as Zoom Baby Brush Hogs, or oxblood worms on a shakey-head or dart-head from the bank to 20' deep. Shad-patterned or white/chartreuse spinnerbaits are also very productive right now.  Largemouths are being caught 5-20' deep in main-lake coves near lay-down wood on Senkos, 6" worms and jigs. There is a strong topwater bite in the early morning and late evening, when the sun is off the water.  (209) 586-2383