Montana Fishing gets a boost in June
By Hookemharry

Posted: June 1, 2011

It may be hard to believe with the cold rainy weather we have been experiencing in Montana but the month of June is finally here. June is the time of the year that fishing normally turns on all across the state on the rivers and lakes. This year with the high water in Montana lakes might be your best fishing option for a while. I love to fish lakes and in June whether you are fishing for trout, walleye, northern pike, bass, or lake trout the most challenging part of your fishing trip is where to go. Fort Peck Reservoir over in the eastern part of the state is on the top of my list. The 134 mile lake has seen an increase in water level the last couple of years. There is so much water this year that the US CORP of Engineers has had to increase its releases out of the dam to a record 50,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), because of recent rains and mountain snowmelt. “The 50,000 cfs is a record amount of water that we have released out of Fort Peck”, added John Daggett Operations Manager for Fort Peck Dam, “all the dams through North Dakota and South Dakota will also be releasing a lot of water”. The previous record happened in 1975 and was 35,000 cfs.  The spillway at the Fort Peck Dam is also in use for the first time since 1997. The predicted water elevation at Fort Peck Reservoir for most of June will be above 2240 feet, currently it is 2247.  Fishing has finally started to pick up on the big lake with limits of walleye and northern pike reported out of Hell Creek Marina and Rock Creek Marina. The Crooked Creek boat ramp on the west end of the lake is open this year, however due to recent rains the road to Crooked Creek has been closed indefinitely.  For information on the fishing and when the road will re-open call Bob at the Bait Shop in Winnet. (406-429-2086) I will be heading to Fort Peck to do the Montana Outdoor Radio Show live this Saturday from Rock Creek Marina on the Dry Arm.

The Canyon Ferry Reservoir water level is starting to come up. The low water has made it difficult to launch a boat. Call Silos RV at 406-266-3100 for up to date boat launching information.

The kokanee salmon fishing on Lake Mary Ronan is excellent. The past weekend saw a quite a few anglers catching their limit. My girlfriend Berny Croy and I went salmon fishing on Monday on Lake Mary Ronan. We didn’t have bite for the first hour and a half in front of Camp Tuffit. We then moved across the lake and found some salmon on the bite in 25 feet of water. We jigged a Swedish pimple and a glow hook tipped with raw shrimp and caught our limit in just two hours. The day before we tried our luck on Bitterroot Lake located west of Kalispell. Fishing was slow for us, as we caught only 8 kokanee salmon. We were trolling very slow using cowbells and a wedding ring tipped with corn and a maggot.

Reports out of Idaho tell me the Chinook salmon fishing has been good. Anglers are doing well by Kooski.

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