Don’t let the quieter crowds fool you—the fishing on Holter is maintaining a steady rhythm. From weed-bed walleye tactics to surprise rainbow trout action on kokanee gear, Jonathan Miller from Montana Outdoor-Approved Capital Sports breaks down the best spots from Willow Creek to the dam, and the exact setups keeping rods bent right now:
Holter:
Traffic in the store has been a bit slower from folks fishing Holter. But from the little I have been hearing the fishing has maintained. Walleye are still being caught throughout the canyon though it seems the lower part is providing better fishing. I would look to start at Willow creek and work back from there. Still appears that a multitude of techniques are working. Though typically this is the time of year when I find targeting the weed beds, just like in Hauser, work best. I like to drift a slip bobber along the edge with a leech but throwing a jig or drop shot with a perch, goby or shad colored bait is a lot of fun when you get a fish to bite. Willow Creek, Cottonwood, Oxbow and clay banks typically hold weed beds, though it sounds like the ones around Split rock are taking their time this year.
Rainbow fishing has been good from split rock down to the dam. Mainly on dodger and squids mainly because the guys that have been catching the rainbows are catching them on their kokanee tackle. But at least catching a fish is better than catching nothing. Speaking of which, it sounds like the kokanee fishing has been slowly picking up. I have not heard if the fish have started moving to depth or not. Typically it is about this time of year the kokanee start moving to deeper water. I like to troll a 5.5” to 7” dodger with a chartreuse, pink or orange squid tipped with scented corn at 1.0mph to 1.2mph. .
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