NW Montana Fishing Report by Snappy’s Sport Senter 1.14.19
By angelamontana

Posted: January 15, 2019
Blanchard Lake
Good ice, around 6”. Nice Perch and Crappie in the 13-18” range. Demon Jigs work well with maggots. Reports of a few decent Pike.Beaver Lake
5” of solid ice. Decent numbers of Salmon using pink Swedish Pimps and Rat Finke Droppers. A few decent Rainbows using Clam Leech Spoons.

Stillwater Lake
8-0” of solid black ice. For Perch try and find openings in weed beds. Use Pete’s Mighty Mites for larger Perch. For Pike use smelt under a tip-up or a Dare Devil Spoon and jig aggressively.

Echo Lake
Shallow water has the best ice, around 5”. Deeper water has 2-3” of black ice. Excellent spot to take kids fishing for Perch. Some Smallmouth around 25’ using orange Forage Minnows. No reports of Whitefish or Salmon.Van Lake
Some decent Rainbows and reports of solid ice. Orange and Pinks are very productive.

Horseshoe Lake
5-7” of black ice. Perch, Crappie and Bass are plentiful. Using Pete’s Tackle Crappie Candy.

Smith Lake
10” of solid ice. Pike fishing is great using an orange jig head whit black Twister Tail. Tip-ups with smelt or cut bait also working well. Nice Perch but are hard to catch. Use ketchup and mustard patters, Demon or Slab Slayers. Jig slow under a bobber.

Ashley Lake
Not fishable yet but reports that ice is starting to form.

Rodgers Lake
5-7” of solid ice. Nice Cutthroat for those who are patient. Use pink or green leech spoons tipped with wax worms. A few Greyling here and there.

Bitterroot Lake
Reports of 5” on the North end and about 75% of the main body is froze over but USE CAUTION. There have been a few Trout being caught as well as Perch.

Thompson Chain
Lower has been slow on the Perch, so try deeper water and tungsten jigs. Good Pike in the shallow water jigging Dare Devils. Middle is still UNSAFE. Upper is fishing on good ice. Reports of Salmon using Hali Jigs.

Island/Lynch Lake
Good spot to take young kids fishing as smaller Perch are always biting. Use Ratsos tipped with maggots.  Tip-ups are producing Pike.

Little McGregor
Another spot for kids. Perch has been well along with a few Rainbows.

Lake Five
5-7” of slid ice and smaller Salmon has been on fire. Use a Fat Finke under and attracter. Perch have been slow. A few nice Rainbows.

Lake Mary Ronan
Fishing has bee fair along East side in 18-25’. Ice is around 4-6” but no recent reports of people crossing over to the West.

McWenneger Slough
USE CAUTION springs are still active. Ice is 1-5” in spots. Smaller Perch, Crappie and Pike are being caught.

For more information on Snappy’s Sport Senter in Kalispell, click here.
(photo of four year-old Alina Johnson at the Smith Lake annual ice fishing derby in January of 2017; via Aaric Bryan/Daily Interlake)
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