Montana Fish Report

Water temperature has cooled and is 48 to 52 degrees.  Trout fishing is slow.  The trout are scattered throughout the lake from the surface to 30 feet deep. Trolling anglers have been catching a few limits of 13 to 16 inch fish.  Try fishing major coves and creek arms, with baits trolled near the surface.  We have had reports of angler catching and releasing some large brown trout.  While trolling for rainbows it would be a good idea to troll a larger size bait to target the browns. Such as, a S-Waver, Magic Swimmer, or a F18 Rapala.  Also, the fish are feeding on large shad.  This would be a good time to try rolling frozen shad.  Try using Pautzke Fire Brine to add to the presentation of your shad. Often times when trolling through a ball of shad the fish will target the one shad that looks a little different. Another technique that has been producing limits is a crawler fished behind a teardrop shaped flasher, or a sling blade. Remember that prism tape reflects light, so on sunny days use blades that will reflect light and attract fish from a distance. Bank fishing was a little slow this week with only a few fish being caught per angler. The standard bait rig with a long leader seems to be your best bet. Use a sliding sinker with a 3-4' leader and a light wire hook.  A crawler/mallow combo is a proven fish catcher.  Another good setup is a Berkley Pinched Crawler with a pink or white Gulp, or Power Egg. Bass fishing is slow. Glory Hole Sports  (209) 736-4333, (209) 586-2383