Spring is here and with it comes sudden changes in weather and changes in water conditions. Outdoor enthusiasts including fishermen need to pay attention to these changes. Storms can happen quickly so fishermen or fisherwomen need to keep in touch with the weather service. Enjoy yourself but remember alcohol alters your judgment. So use it sparingly while enjoying the outdoors. Keep an eye on the weather as conditions such as temperature, wind, fire and precipitation can come on in fierce strength very fast. The strength and depth of ice is changing very quickly so use caution. This report is compiled on Monday and Tuesday and reflects conditions and results of fishing from the past week. If you wish other information feel free to contact most parties for current daily information. Good luck fishing from the Montana Outdoor Radio Crew.
(report compiled by Carol Henckel)
Micki reports, “Lots of walleye, northern pike and smallmouth were caught this week. We saw a 10 pound walleye that was caught. They were catching them on bottom bouncers at 6 to 8 feet. The water is really high. The temperature this weekend was 64 degrees and it cooled after the rain to 62 degrees. The northern pike were even being caught right off the dock. The word is they bite, bite, bite all the time. We sold a lot of minnows so they are working real well. “
“Our hours are Sunday to Thursday 7 am to 9 pm. Friday to Sunday 7 am to 11pm. We are willing to open early or later than these hours depending on the need. We are excited to get people fishing and hear their fishing stories , Monty says.”
Tongue River Reservoir Raymond /Spencer/ Greg
Raymond reports,” It was a busy weekend. It rained 3 ½ inches on the weekend. The lake is very high. There is no shore line the water is up to the grass and tree. It is safe fishing but there is a lot of debris in the water. You just have to be aware and be very careful. The water temperature is 60 degrees. People are saying it is a slow catch. People say they are catching crappies in the shallows. They are finding the pike and the bass in shallow. The walleye were pretty slim to catch. If they found them it was at 15 to 20 feet. The fish cleaning station and the dump site are up and running. The boat inspection stations are running.”
Tongue River Marina 1-406-757-2225 Wade, Stephanie, Greg /Warden Jordan Staley
Wade says, “ The bite was massive on the weekend. The walleye bite is shallow and jigs are working. My son and his friend went out Sunday just off the shore and in 2 hours caught 15 crappies. In the boat they are finding them suspended. We are full, at full pool. There is definitely stuff floating out there. You have to pay attention and watch for trees. I The inspection station is up and checking. We now have leeches ”
The Marina is now open every day. Our are 8 to 5 Monday to Thursday and Friday and Saturday 7 to 9. On Sunday we will be open from 7 to 5 pm.
Hell Creek Marina- Clint Thomas-Layne 1-406- 557-2345
Clint says, “fishing is good for walleye. The fishing is real good in the shallows at 6 to 14 feet during the day. They are biting well from Hell Creek to Timber Creek. The northern pike are doing awfully well from shore. The water is high but not a lot of stuff floating in it yet. It is at full pool. “
The Marina is open 7 days a week, 7 am to 6 pm.
Lake Ridge Motel Eddie and Carrie Mindt 1-406-526-3597
Justin says, “ people are catching quite a few walleye. They are finding them at 3 to 20 feet depths and they seem to be really moving. The water is at 50 degrees. It has been a really good bite for northern pike. The pike are in the shallows 3 to 20 feet by the bank. There have been a few walleye caught at the dam. I have not heard of any bass being caught this week. We are not seeing any debris .”
We do have minnows, suckers, fatheads, Smelt, night crawlers, hooks, floaters, full suckers, wax and meal worms and white and pink maggots here for the guys to use. Our hours are 7am-6 pm Monday through Sunday. ”
Cooney Reservoir – Marina Matheson.
Marina, “ It was a rainy weekend so it was a slower with less people here . The water is going up and is over the spillway. There are some camping spots that are flooded. We had to close the Marshall Cove and Fishermen Point until it goes down. I did hear of a few rout and walleye being caught. People are catching lots of fish from shore. At this point conditions are rapidly changing so stay aware and on the alert. “
Lake Elmo FWP Bob Gibson
Bob says,” People are catching fish. Even with all the rain people were out there fishing. There are lots of guys out there and they are doing well. Some perch and some bass have been caught. They did stock trout last Tuesday . The fishing is getting better. Guys are using worms, corn and marshmallows.
Lake Josephine- We are hearing and seeing lots of dead fish on shore. There was a big winter kill there. It seems to have hit the small pan fish hard. We are hearing now that people are catching smallmouth bass when casting farther out.
I want to remind people that because of flooding all the fishing access sites in this region are walk in only right now. There is just no predicting when that will change. Captain Clark access is also walk in only.
On the Big Horn there is one spot at Grant Marsh assess that is also walk in only.
Deadmans Tony Stefani
Pat explains,” We had lots of people here this week. They were catching a few brown trout. They were getting a lot of nibbles. The water is high. We had hail, rain and lots of wind this weekend. The wind has been pushing the water into the camp sites at times. The road is good. “
Deadmans/Martinsdale Cozy Corner Bar Lavina 406-636-22
Guys who bought worms headed to Martinsdale and we have heard they were catching some fish.. They said the shore line was real muddy. The rivers are sure high.
Checkerboard Inn Checkerboard, MT Rick and Judy Geordge 406-572-3373
Judy says, “the fishing was good this weekend, probably Saturday was the best day for catching. It was good at Martinsdale, Bair and Sutherlan. It seemed to be real good from a boat which is not usually the case. It was definitely high water this week. The water is running over the dam. ”
Don’s Lewistown-Dale/Charlie
Charlie says, “We are in the process of closing our shop so we are transferring our report to the Sports Center. We want to thank all of our customers for their support.”
“Ackley is okay fishing for trout. The water is clear. It is full and there is not a lot of beach. The fish are in the shallows and guys are using floating Rapellas.
On the East Fork the pike are biting. Someone caught a nice 22 # pike.
At the Fred Robinson the Paddlefish are finally picking up guys are saying.
They are catching catfish north of Winefred using a set line. It has been pretty good.
On Crooked Creek the walleye fishing is better and clearer further down towards the narrows at Timber Creek. The walleye they caught were nice. The walleye seem to be migrating and are at depths of 15 to 20 feet. The water temperature was 62 degrees.
The little creeks are high and muddy.
On Spring Creek the water is still clearing up and is improving. Guys are nymphing. The San Juan worm is working well. People have seen some mayfly hatches “, Colby says.
Crooked Creek Marina Winnett, Montana James (Slim) and Abbie Craig 406-429-2999
Abby says,” fishing is pretty good. They are catching everything from pike to perch to cats to drums. It was good shore fishing. The walleye are really turning on. People have caught some nice ones. They are going to depths of 20 to 27 inches. The water clears up right before Forchette. Use purple, blue, white and green jigging or bottom bouncing. There is some floating debris in the water. We had nice weather. ”
Silos Canyon Ferry-Sharon
Sharon reports,” Fishing is good. People are leaving with 6 to 9 fish per person. They are catching lots of rainbow trout, perch and some walleye. It is muddy water until about White Earth. We will be at full pool soon. We are about 3 feet from it. Watch for floating items in the water. Some can be quite large. Shore fishing is good and they are catching walleye and perch. The Flamingo is now open.
Don’t forget to sign up for the annual Canyon Ferry Walleye Tournament on June 23 &24th. Call Townsend Marine at 406-266-5700 and ask for Carol. “
The Marina is open. Hours are 7 am to 7 pm.
Jim says,” I heard Nelson wasn’t great fishing. At Nelson people are catching a few walleye. The water is high.
At Forchette fishing is good . They are catching walleye and northern pike using worms. The walleye and pike are being caught in 15 feet of water in the shallows. There were lots of people there. “
Stop by the store. We do have minnows here if you need them.
Shop hours are 8 to 6 Monday to Saturday and closed on Sunday”
Billings-Scheels Jayce, Tanner, Matt
Jayce said,” At Hell Creek some guys said they caught 3 and 4 pound smallmouth on the rocky points. They are catching some walleye.
On the Yellowstone it is blown out. The water is real muddy.
Tongue- Fishing people say has been good for bass. They say they caught a lot of crappies.
Cooney-I have been told that a few walleye with jigs from the boat is not bad.
We had a fellow fishing at Canyon Ferry who called while he was on the water for help with his new fish finder. He was catching fish while he was on the phone and had to hang up to net them. So he was doing allright.”
Rich’s Tackle Richard 406-285-4540
Rich says, “Canyon Ferry is woody, yes, I mean woody. There is lots of wood on top of the lake. The water is up. You have got to watch out. A lot of propellars have been damaged so be careful. Right now it pretty much cleas up at White Earth. You can get away from it going north from White Earth. I hear they are catching trout and walleye at 8 to 20 feet depths. Be kind of careful as there is some debris.
The rivers are really muddy right now. The high temperatures are making the rivers rise again. All three are up.
I hear Holter and Hauser are good fishing. They are catching walleye, trout and perch. They are jigging for them. The water is pretty clear they say.
On the Missouri at Holter Dam towards Great Falls they are catching some nice walleye “
Stillwater Anglers-Chris 406-322-4977 ,Bill, Ken
Chris says, “ The word of the week is the water is too high to fish around here. It is muddy. It is really unsafe both on the Yellowstone and the Stillwater.
I fished the Big Horn the other day and it was ok. It was alright definitely not gang busters.
Hit the lakes and ponds right now. “
We are open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 to 5 pm,” Chris says.
Montana Adventures and Angling in Fort Smith Beau McFadyean 406-855-3612
Beau says, “I fished the Missouri this week. It is at 18600 cfs right now. The water is coming out of Holter. It is really high and you have to really be careful. I would say if you are a novice don’t fish here right now. You really have to know what you are doing. The water temperature is coming up. It is a harder catch. Use sow bugs and San Juan worms and blue wing olives. It is all nymph fishing. ”
Big Horn Trout Shop Fort Smith 666-2375
Rich reports,” We got lots of rain. Somewhere around 4 to 5 inches depending where you are at. The fishing is real good. The cfs is down to 6, 000 now. The water is pretty clear. They are eating white flies like crazy. Yesterday it was cloudy water in places and we did pretty good. At 8 mile s down the water was cloudy on one side but not terrible. For dries try midges and smoke jumpers. There is a good baetis hatch. Try a parachute Adams. You can try a Just buster , a cripple Thor or a student baetis. Any nymph is good to try. Use a two tone scud, carpet sow bugs , the San Juan, gray rays, zebra midges or JuJu baetis. When it is cloudy try the streamers. Streamers have been really good. Use a white streamer in a size 10 or 12. There is a fairly good baetes hatch around 2 to 3 pm. Right now the boat fishing is better than wading. ”
Our summer hours are 8 am to 5 every day.
Riverside Anglers in West Yellowstone : Alice Owsley, fishing guide and outfitter 406-640-1698
Madison River
Alice reports, “The water is high and off color in the upper Madison. A few adult March Brown and blue winged olive mayflies have been seen on the water. Most of the fish this week were caught on nymphs. Fish are eating medium sized dark stonefly nymphs when they can see them and smaller, flashy beadhead pheasant tail nymphs. Make sure to check current conditions before you head out, flows on the Upper Madison will change drastically in the next couple weeks. There are still a few rainbows on their redds, best to leave them alone. “
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is now open .
