Helena Recreation Report by Bob Ward’s Sports & Outdoors 3.16.18
By angelamontana

Posted: March 16, 2018

Hunting:

General Rifle season for Deer and Elk has come to an end as well as upland bird and migratory bird. If you had a great season and got some great pictures to prove it—bring’em on in and we’ll get them posted up front!

Fishing: **New fishing licenses for 2018 must begin March 1st** Swing on in and pick up your 2018 license.

Canyon Ferry: Ice is solid and we are getting reports of about 15-20” of ice along the silos up to confederate, Duck Creek, HIW and Goosebay.  Try fishing in 20-30 FOW with a Hali jig tipped with a maggot or some frozen minnows.  Silos have been fishing pretty well of late.  The trout bite has been great, Perch and Walleye are consistent but not quite as aggressive.

Hauser/Causeway:  There are a reports of about 12-15” of ice.  The bite is consistent and the perch are hitting in 40-50 fow and Walleye and Trout are hitting in 15-30 fow, so make sure to grab some maggots and your favorite ice jigs, we’d recommend picking up a glowing Swedish pimple.

Holter:  Ice is solid about 8-12” of ice, and the bite is good right now. Guys have been fishing the perch in about 40-50 fow and trout in about 20-30 fow, make sure you are actively jigging a Hali jig tipped with a maggot or perch eyes to get your best results and keep moving around until you start marking fish.

Helena Regulating Reservoir:  Ice is solid right now about 10-15”. Salmon bite is good right now and so is the perch. Lots of fish biting according to reports. Salmon seem to be hanging near the bottom in about 30 fow so start there then adjust.  Schools seem to be moving around pretty fast so be patient.

Ski:

Great Divide: With a 60-70” base and 8 new inches of snow, if you’re in Helena you need to plan sometime at Great Divide before Spring is here and it’s hiking season.  Friday night we’re skiing under the lights until 9 p.m. with live music at lodge.

Showdown: Showdown is open Wed. through Sun. Snow-wise the mountain has 50-61” of snow with 3 new inches this week and new snow. All lifts and trails are open. Thursdays are now only $30 a lift ticket for the rest of the season!

Big Sky: With 64-96” of snow and 4” of new snow, Big Sky is skiing great! It’s a good time to come out and find some fresh snow to lay tracks on one of Montana’s biggest ski resorts.

Whitefish Resort: It’s been snowing plenty at Whitefish with 146” of settled base and 8 inches of new POW this week.  The resort is open with 10 chairs running from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 or 4:30 p.m., depending on the chairlift.  Snow conditions are great so come on up and find the deep snow and fresh turns waiting for you at this gorgeous resort.

In the Community

  • Queen City FC Recreational Soccer registration ends this Saturday. QCFC Vigilante Soccer is a recreational youth soccer program for boy and girls age 4-18. For more info. visit queencityfc.org
  • It’s officially March but it still feels like winter which means we get a little more time to get out and make a few turns, ice fish, or go snowshoeing or x-country skiing. However, you enjoy the outdoors in winter, swing on into Bob Wards for our Winter Clearance sale.  We are also getting in new gear as well with plenty of team sports starting up swing on in and be one of the first to check out this Springs new gear as it comes in.
(feature photo via Mitchelldyer Photography)
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