Montana Fish Report

We had a few days of very warm temperatures here at Eagle Lake this past week, with daytime temperatures in the low 90’s and the mid 50’s at night.  The surface water temperature quickly warmed to 70 degrees.  Then on Sunday and Monday, June 9 and 10, we had heavy showers.  I believe we got about 3 inches of rain between Sunday night and Monday afternoon.  Today, Tuesday, June 11, the water temperature had dropped to 65F.  We caught fish all week long trolling and fly fishing. Trolling is good.  I trolled three days this past week and we boated 28 fish.  (We released most of them keeping only a few.)  We are still trolling the west side of the lake south of Pelican Pt over rock piles and bottom structure.  Pumpkinseed grubs 125 feet behind the boat at 5 feet deep in water 6-12 feet deep have been the ticket. 

This area has been producing all season long.  It has also produced the biggest fish we have landed this season (3lb+ fish as reported above).  The fish we are keeping have bright red/orange flesh and are loaded up on shrimp and snails.  The water temperature has cooled so the fish should be in the shallows for 2-3 more weeks.

Fly Fishing:

I fly fished two days this past week.  We are nymph fishing under an indicator in 8-11 feet of water with a two fly rig.  Had a great day Thursday, June 6 with 17 fish caught and released in 4 hours of fishing. We also missed at least 8 or 10 “takedowns”.  Saturday, the fly fishing slowed way down for us and our score was only 6 fish.  We were in the middle of a heat wave up here at Eagle Lake.  That’s my excuse anyway. 

The fly fishing should be good through the end of June.  After that, the water will be too warm for the fish to be feeding in shallow water.

Bobber Fishing:

Bobber fishing is picking up a bit.  (Most folks are still catching their fish trolling.) Best bobber spots have been the Youth Camp and on the west size of the lake, south of Pelican Pt.  There are numerous points between Pelican Pt and Shrimp Island off which fish can be caught bobber fishing early in the morning. Anchor off these points in 10-15 feet of water and set your threaded night crawler at 7 feet deep. 

Tim Noxon, Fish Traveler Guide Service, 530-825-3524, tnoxon@gmail.com, www.fishtraveler.com; www.eaglelakefishing.net