Montana Fishing

Montana Fishing Information

Cabinet Gorge Reservoir

Main Species Present- Yellow Perch, Mountain Whitefish, Brown Trout, Largemouth Bass

This beautiful, gin clear lake is basically in the middle of nowhere, so expect to have to drive a ways from any major thoroughfare. With that said, it's well worth it. This is one of the most productive areas I have ever fished. Yellow perch make up the meat of the catch, but we also caught plenty of Mountain whitefish and a few brown trout. We did most of our fishing from inflatable kayaks, fishing in brush piles near the inlet, but we also fished from the bank. One surprising thing we found, (and this was mid-summer) is that most of the trout we caught were caught off the bank, near the campground, although we did catch some out of our kayaks near the inlets. Fishing near the campground produced plenty of perch, whitefish and trout. This is a great place to fish. From our experience a worm fisherman can expect to catch about 50 perch, 20 whitefish, and 5 brown trout in a full day of fishing.

Middle Thompson Lake

Main Species Present- Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Rainbow Trout.

This beautiful lake is not too far from glacier national park, and is a fun place to fish, even though it doesn't produce fast action fishing like nearby Cabinet Gorge. You might even say that this is a place to take the family first, and a place to fish second. With that said, bank fishing is pretty decent for yellow perch. We also had success fishing in deep water off points with inflatable kayaks and jigging spoons. This produced large yellow perch and decent sized northern pike. We didn't have any success fishing for trout, but they are present in the lake in fair numbers. We also saw plenty of bass, but we were unsuccessful in catching any.

Madison River

This is probably the most famous fishing stream in Montana, but we didn't have a lot of success here. We fished with both flies and Mepps spinners just below Hebgen Lake. Between all three of us, we only caught one small rainbow trout. This river has so much good water, it is hard to figure out where to fish. There are a lot of trout here, based on how many we saw rise, but we couldn't really figure it out.

Small tributaries of major rivers

Sorry I can't be very specific here, but some of these streams are just to good and too fragile to give out names here. Here's a tip on how you can find your own secluded honey hole. Look at the major, famous rivers, and look on a topographic map for small tributaries. You will find they almost all have public access, as well as plenty of small brook trout and cutthroat trout. Although this article is about Montana, these small stream techniques have never failed me anywhere from Wyoming to upstate New York. First and foremost, keep your presentation small. If you buy seven or eight size 0 or size 00 Mepp's spinners, you can catch trout just about anywhere. Fish every pocket of deep water you see, which are often caused by fallen trees, rocks, or beaver dams obstructing flow. If you can find a section of stream in a valley or meadow area, that is even better. Cast your spinner upstream, and reel it downstream just fast enough to make the spinner spin. If you do this, and are careful not to wave your pole around or make excessive noise, you will catch some trout. Just don't expect them to be large. The majority of mountain creek trout will be five to 12 inches long, and most will be on the lower end of that spectrum. Also try to practice catch and release, or at least only keep enough for dinner. These small streams are fragile. Also, don't tell too many people about the little gem, or you may find there will only be a few, small spooky trout the next time you fish there.