NW Montana Fishing Report by the Macman 1.23.19
By angelamontana

Posted: January 23, 2019

Fishermen:

All of the smaller bodies of water finally have safe ice.  I plan on checking East Bay again tomorrow

Pablo Reservoir is proving to be fairly productive for perch and good to excellent for northern pike.  If you’re targeting northern’s a smelt below a bobber or with a tip up is the way to go.

If you are after perch but want a fairly durable set up that is one that is likely to withstand a pike’s tendency to cut your line our Wanna-B in line drop shot combination baited with maggots or fish eyes is the way to go short of using a steel leader on everything.

The pike are averaging better than 22 “.  The picture above is at a typical Pablo Pike.

Both Kicking Horse Reservoir and Crow Reservoir have been producing nice brown and rainbow trout all winter.  Mission Reservoir is also a possibility for some Rainbow.

I also had a pleasant surprise at Echo Lake about a week ago.  In my search for potentials for our Wana-B dropshot combination I punched some holes in the 35 to 40 foot depth which seems to be so productive in a lot of Lakes.  In the first hole I dropped into almost immediately there was a light bite.  Setting the hook I found I had a fairly heavy fish.  It turned out to be the first smallmouth bass I’d caught through the ice.  Three holes later in about an hours’ time I had 3 smallies ranging from 1 ½ to 2 ½ pounds plus two decent lake whitefish.

Lake Mary Ronan has been spotty for Kokanee but normally picks up as the season progresses.  Perch fishing has been normal with some really big ones a possibility.

For more information give us a call at 406-675-0068 or my personal cell 406-250-0241   Email us at: macman@ronan.net

For our product line our website is: www.zimmertackle.com

 

Good Fishing

The Macman

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