Montana Fish Report

There is change underway. The bobber fishing held up with limits the rule.  You must launch around 4:30-4:45 AM and be fishing by 5AM.  The bobber bite is over by 6:30AM. The fly fishing and trolling fell flat on its face.  I can only speculate that the rising water temps are starting to scatter the fish and moving them out of  the shallow water where we have been catching them since the opener (May 26). We are also dealing with a full moon which can put a halt on things.

The surface water temperature has risen to 65-66 degrees.  Trolling was good through last Sat (June 29).  Pumpkinseed  and watermelon grubs and  Tui Chub flies were good trolling baits fished 5-6 feet deep from Pelican Point down to Slough Point on the west side.   The trolling bite in deeper water, 48-52 feet between Slough Point and Wildcat Point on the west side has also slowed.

We caught plenty of fish nymphing in 10-11 feet of water up until Saturday when it turned slow.  This shallow water nymphing will shut off once the water gets too warm.  In years past we have caught plenty of fish using this method until mid July.  Have to wait and see what happens over the next week.  We could get some cooler weather and the fish could move back into the shallows. tnoxon@gmail.com www.fishtraveler.com (530) 825-3454