Fishermen:

Perch fishing on the East side of Polson Bay (Flathead Lake) has settled into a more sporadic schedule with good days and poor days, morning being best. When we had hot and  still days the small fish would bite, but the larger fish became sluggish. Perch fishermen have caught at least 10 small mouth bass with a 6 pounder caught by Jim Funke of Polson MT (shown above).

Considering that the estate record is 6.66 lbs. that is a very nice bass. Catching lake trout there is also common.

In Flathead proper, the largest numbers of Lake Trout are still being caught in deep water (220 ft. to 300 ft.) a 2 oz or 1 ¼ oz Glo Grub below a fly both baited with scented cut fish has the most consistency, but at times Rattle D Zastors and Lead A Gators work well.

In shallow water, those fishing the Narrows area and the river delta at the North end of the Lake are having success with a little larger fish. Trolling, spin jigging with cut bait or fishing a whole fish have proven successful.

I had a unique experience on Church Slough, on April 23rd, in that I caught a wide variety of fish. They included perch, black crappie, sun fish, pea mouth, pike minnows (squawfish), a sucker, 3 west slope cutthroat and 2 bull trout. I didn’t catch any pike or large mouth bass which are also abundant there. This slough is located on the lower valley road between Bigfork and Kalispell. If you have a story and/or a picture you’d like to share we’d like to hear from you.

For those who are interested in commercial bait fishing a $10.00 license can be purchased at the DSWIC office (phone number is 675-2700 ext 7200) on 6th Ave South of the Lindeman Grade School. We will buy your fish here at Zimmer Tackle in Pablo. This is a great way for kids to improve their fishing skills and earn a little money. Call us before you go fishing so we can instruct you on proper care of the fish.

Good Fishing

The Macman