Montana Fish Report

Several days of nice weather has surface temps on the rise, 72.6 degrees, and more sunshine on the way.

Even with the warming surface temperatures there's still plenty of cold water down deep, and clarity is about as good as it gets, about 13 feet, depending where you’re at.

The trolling bite is starting to pick up, and so has the bait bite.

Salmon have moved into Big Springs and anchovy tails are the prefered baits for targeting these kings. However one day it’s good the next...zip, but when its good expect salmon in the 16 to 17 inch range.

No big kings caught there yet, but they could arrive anytime now.

Recommended scents, Pro-Cure Super Herring Gel or Crawdad scents on that anchovy. Crickets and mealworms with added garlic scent have been  hooking browns from Goose

In the evening bite check out the Snag, and Red Banks near Canyon Dam. There's big fish feeding at sundown and with the moon phase in the dark mode its a little harder for these fish to see what's available making it tougher for them to feed all night, and that's good for us.

The trolling bite is coming back on track as well.

From the Hamilton Branch to  Big Springs. Rec. 1 to the A-Frame both these areas are producing a variety of fish in all sizes from medium to large, salmon, browns and rainbows are around and we catch all three species almost every day we have been out.

Most of our fish have come off the Strike Master Dodgers with the Threaded crawler 18 inches back, and rigged down 25 feet and 38 feet later in the morning. In addition, we have been running a threaded crawler on a stacker release five feet above the dodger and 10 feet further back, as a trailer..If you want a  diagram of this set up go to www.Sepsprofishing.com  its a killer rig that catches fish.

Pond Smelt are showing up now, and fish are rolling close to the surface early and dropping down as the sun clears Mt. Dyer. Trolling spoons like Needlefish and Shiners can be effective.

Smallmouth bass bite is good near Prattville as they feed on the hex hatch. Access accurate Lake Almanor data at http://www.project2105.org/lake_levels.htm.  Doug Neal (530) 258-6732 http://www.almanorfishingadventures.com