Montana Fish Report

Water temperature is 51-54 degrees and crystal clear. There were lots of very nice trout caught last week, with most anglers catching their limits. The average size fish is about two pounds. Trout are right up in the shallows, spawning and chasing bait.  Bank anglers have been using Power Bait (the garlic scent is working great), Gulp Eggs, 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. Most of the fish that are being caught are full of small shad. Try using shad patterned lures. Rapalas are great little baits that look and act like baitfish. Try using a Floating Rapala in the morning and switch to a Countdown in the afternoon. Trolling anglers have been catching some fish in the back of the major creek arms (Carson Creek, Coyote Creek, and Angels Creek.) Try fishing closer to shore and follow the contour of the bank. A lot of fish are up shallow. Side planning and long-lining a floating or jointed Rapala has been producing a lot of fish and some pretty nice ones too. Also, since the fish have been shallow, some anglers have been doing well casting lures at the bank or dropping an anchor and using bait. Bass fish is pretty good. The fish are starting to move shallow. The spotted bass are in the pre-spawn stage and being caught at 10-25 feet deep. The fish are very fat this year and full of shad. The average size spotted bass is two pounds. Fish are being caught on soft plastics and there has been a pretty decent jig bite.  (209) 736-4333, (209) 586-2383