Montana Fish Report

The lake level has been steady and slowly rising for the last few weeks. It is currently at 1050 ft. above sea level and 38 ft. from full. The water temperature is 52-54 degrees and crystal clear. Trout fishing is great. Still seeing a lot of nice holdover and planted trout. The bite picked up this last week, with most anglers catching their limits. We finally got a little winter weather. Whenever it rains the creeks and drainage ditches will wash nutrients, crawlers, and other terrestrial insects into the water. These are great places to target fish. Bank anglers have been using Power bait (the scented kinds are working great), marshmallows, and nightcrawlers to catch them. It is very important that your bait floats. Use small hooks, plenty of Power bait, and a worm blower to float a crawler. etty good. The fish are in their winter haunts. Most fish are being caught on main lake structure from 25-65 feet deep. The fish are very fat and full of shad. The average size spotted bass in 2-pounds. Most anglers are catching fish using shad patterned worms on a drop shot rig. We have also had reports of a pretty decent jig bite. (209) 736-4333, (209) 586-2383