If you’ve stepped inside Capital Sports in Helena lately (and you should if you haven’t!), you know Jonathan Miller lives the “Montana Outdoor Approved” lifestyle—and his latest scouting reports prove it. As the summer sun locks into place, our local waters are shifting gears, meaning it’s time to adjust your tactics if you want to keep tight lines. From deep-water trout trolling to hunting down shoreline walleye, Jonathan has dialed in the exact speeds, depths, and colors working right now, starting with a breakdown of what’s hitting on Hauser Lake:
Hauser:
The summer fishing patterns are starting to settle in. Below the dam remains slow and weedy. I would continue downstream and start at Spokane bay. Trolling from Spokane bay to Lakeside is good for trout as long as you stay in the deeper water. My go-to crank bait patterns are black/gold or rainbow trout patterns. Like Canyon Ferry troll at 1.5mph to 2.5mph. Another area to troll is on front of White Sandy to the dam over deep water.
Walleye are patrolling the shoreline more and more. From York bridge through the dredge cuts (rock piles) and up the causeway arm is all productive in pockets. If you find an area with one fish, chances are there will be more in that small area. I like to throw jigs up shallow and jig them back. Sungill, perch, Green Pumpkin Disco and Goby are all good colors to start with on a 1/8oz jig head on calm days and 1/4oz jig head on breezy days. In the causeway arm jigs are also effective, but a slip bobber and a leech or worm is a good tactic. I would set yourself up on a drift to cover water with the bobber until you start finding fish.
Pike are still getting more active and wanting to chase more of weed bed edges. Jigging a big paddle tail or tube jig off of weed bed edges is a good place to start. White or Pro Blue Red Pearl are two good colors and the key is to balance the weight of the jig head with the bait to make the tail move while sinking without it rocketing to the bottom. That means the weight could vary from 3/16oz to 3/8oz depending on the size and sink rate of the bait used. Fly fishing has been fun too for the smaller pike but the big ones have been chasing those too.
Lake Helena:
Weeds have made it impossible to fish. The only thing I have for ya is if you swim your dogs in Lake Helena, watch for the blue-green algae as we get into these warmer temps. I haven’t heard of any yet but we are getting close.
Regulating Reservoir:
Kokanee fishing as continued to be decent though the size leaves some to be desired. But guys are finding luck in morning and evening trolling orange or chartreuse wedding rings around 20’ to 30’ of water. In the bright of the day jigging a Swedish pimple or kastmaster in deeper is the best bet to try and catch some fish. I prefer the silver, blue/silver or pink spoons but sometimes a gold color can be great.
