Hi, this is Angie at the HELENA Bob Wards, giving you the scoop on fishing in our area this week!:
Canyon Ferry has about 7-9” of ice on the south end. We’ve been getting great reports for walleye fishing. GloHooks (no surprise here!) have given the best success. The depths are still a little questionable, but we recommend trying 30-40’ depths–if you are not having much luck there, don’t hesitate to try some new depths. We have also had success with Jigs tipped with a nightcrawler.
Trout fishing is also pretty spectacular–we recommend trying for trout in 6-8’ of water with maggot tipped jigs.
As a reminder, be safe and pay attention to the ice thickness. The days have been beautiful and the nights have been getting verrrrry cold, you just can’t ask for better weather! These are the finest conditions for fun & profit on the ice!
The Causeway is another great bet for some sound ice fishing—The fishing has been a little slow over there, we hear, but we encourage you to give it a try!
The Helena Reservoir has been picking up; we have good reports of guys hooking up with Swedish pimples tipped with maggots and corn.
As expected, the Missouri river is hot right now. Try nymphing with some type of red in your fly, and also a pink flash. The bobber-to-split shot distance is about 6 feet. A pink scud is popular with the trout! Pink is usually a preferred color, so you might also try it in Lightning Bugs & Sowbugs. Streamer fishing is also productive with colors of black, olive and brown. The ice shelf has melted away, we hear, so it’s safer to wade this week and into the weekend.
In the mood to ski??? Great Divide right now has a top base of 40” and a bottom base of 30”. Hours this week are Friday 10am – 9pm with live music from 7-10pm. Saturday is “sleep in Saturday” so the lifts will start operate from 9:30 a.m. to 6pm.. Sunday with regular hours of 9:30-4.
Showdown has a top base of 36” and a bottom base of 28”. All lifts and trails are open and conditions are great.
If you’re interested in doing a family trip with some snow and water, don’t hesitate to ski Discovery. Some of the Bob Wards staff went up there last week and it was a blast. The conditions were great with a 25-45” base and the mountain always has a way to challenge you. When your feet are cold and you need to relax those muscles after a long day of skiing, hit up Fairmont Hot springs!
Don’t forget to swing into Bob Ward & Sons and we’ll help get you geared up for a fun day in the snow. Tune in next week for more glorious fishing goodness!
