Area Lakes Reports

Lakes are still frozen.  Lake fishing could start early this year if we keep getting warm weather for the rest of winter.

Lakes are now freezing over and should remain that way for a while.   

          Lake fishing season is coming to an end.  Mountain lakes are frozen, and ice is starting to form on some of the lakes down in the valleys.  Larger lakes like Ennis and Hebgen are still open, but fish are mostly down deep or have moved out of the lakes to spawn.  Streamers and

            Most lakes have been fishing well with buggers, leeches and streamers fished down deep.  Indicator rigs with Chironomids are also effective on most lakes.  Crayfish are working well in Quake and Hebgen and reports from Quake have been good.  Browns are stacked up near inlets on some of the feeder creeks

Callibaetis are pretty much over now, but you can still find some gulping stillwater trout eating ants.  We’ve heard that there have been ants on the local gulper lakes; the problem is that it isn’t very consistent.  Moral of the story is take some ants with you, but also take some bobbers and buggers.

We’ve heard that people are starting to catch some trout at Canyon Ferry.  Fish are cruising the shorelines and will eat leeches and chironomids some days.  One of our friends was out there and warned us that the algae can be very bad if the prevailing winds blow it into the shore.  Jimmy especially warned us not to let our

Gulpers are still going on some of the area lakes but the fishing has been tough.  At this point many fish are making their fall runs, and the ones that are left have seen about every callibaetis and trico imitation out there.  Expect plenty of refusals if you do find some fish up.  We talked to one customer who tried 6x just

We’re still hearing about plenty of gulper fishing on area lakes, but at this point in the season the fish are getting pretty tough, (not that they’re ever easy).  On any of the area gulper lakes, the guys we’re talking to are doing better buy going smaller, maybe even smaller than the naturals you’re seeing on

Hyalite Reservoir is really dropping now.  That combined with no evening thunderstorms should make for some decent evening dry fly fishing.  Usually a small parachute Adams, some ants, and maybe some midge patterns are about all you need.  A little Zebra midge off the back of the dry will take fish that are being pickier than a stillwater cutthroat should be. 

The Callibaetis hatch is in full swing on Ennis Lake, and the fishing continues to be pretty good.  There is some activity on the Tricos in the morning, but the fish really started working when the Callibaetis started showing up in good numbers, which for us was in between 10:30-11am.  You may need to move around a little bit to find a

Gulpers are going out at Ennis.  We saw a few trico’s but the fish didn’t start to get going until the callibaetis were out mid-morning.  Fish seemed to really be keying on the dries.  We fished gulper specials and parachute emerger thingy’s.  Fishing will be up and down but most days will have some rising

We drove up to Fairy Lake yesterday and the road was in pretty good shape.  It seemed like every other car in the parking lot was a Subaru, with a couple of mini vans thrown in.  Ground clearance isn’t a big issue.  The fishing was not so easy.  As usual, plenty of cutthroats were cruising the shoreline but they

Callibaetis hatches on the area lakes are getting into full swing, and Ennis Lake is a nice destination to fish this hatch.  Tricos are starting to hatch earlier in the morning, with some fish being active on them, but from mid-morning until early afternoon fish are looking for the Callibaetis.  Before the fish start working on dries, try a mohair leech trailed by

Summer hatches are going on most of the lakes.  Callibaetis are getting better on Hebgen.  You’ll see them all over the lake but most of the reports of gulper fishing are still coming from the Madison arm.  Ennis also has them but a lot of the lake was dirty due to recent winds.  The inlet area should be more

Now that the rivers are starting to fish, we’re hearing fewer lake reports.  That could be a mistake because callibaetis and damsel hatches are really just getting going.  Also, lakes like Ennis and Quake that have been dirty due to the Madison’s influence, should start to clear now that the river is coming in clean.  Callibaetis are starting

The fishing at Hyalite has slowed down, especially around the inlet.  If you head up there now, you’ll probably do better around the damn.  Fish are still eating Chironomids and leeches.  We did wee some fish eating midges up on the surface early yesterday morning.  Dry fly fishing will probably improve as the summer progresses.  We’re

Thank goodness we have so many excellent lakes in the area with the flows the way they are.  Ennis and Quake are both dirty from the Madison, other than that reports are pretty solid.  People are still doing well up at Hyalite.  It sounds like the inlet area remains the most consistent.  We’ll try to get up there this

Area lakes are still a great option with all the high water.  We’re still doing well up at Hyalite on buggers, although all the screwy weather can put the bite off a little at times.  People are still catching some big ones at Hebgen.  I fished Harrison on Tuesday and actually caught a fish and missed three more, so it

I’ve fished Hyalite a fare bit lately and it has been good. Me and Charlie fished Hyalite the other day and did well again. The road past the dam is now open. Most of our fish were caught on leeches. We caught a few on worms and Chironomids too. The lake has been busy depending on the day and weather. This is a

John and a friend were up at Hyalite today and just smoked them. They caught plenty for hungry cutthroat and a few graying. Most of the ice is gone now with a few chucks still floating around. They got most of their fish stripping buggers.

We’re still hearing good reports from Hebgen.  Fish are eating leeches and chironomids and even rising to midges during calm mornings and evenings.  Quake is still pretty dirty and so is Ennis from what we’ve been hearing.  We’ve had a few people through the shop heading to Cliff and Wade; it sounds like the road to

I took a drive up Hyalite last night after work to see how the reservoir was doing. The upper south end where the creek dump in is clearing out nicely and the edges are doing goo to there are places where the ice in 20 feet off the bank, more than enough to catch some cruising rainbows. There is still some decent snow drifts up there

We’ve been hearing great reports from Hebgen.  Both stripping wolly buggers and hanging chironomids under an indicator have been taking plenty of fish.  Saw a picture of 24 inch brown earlier this week.  Most of the access is restricted to the north shore unless you have a snow mobile.  There haven’t been any reports of rising fish yet

The lake situation hasn’t changed much because thing aren’t thawing out that fast. Ennis is still fairly dirty by all accounts and Harrison is its usual moody self. I had a few people that said Dailey was ok, but seems like it’s on the down turn. If you do fancy giving it a try make sure you have your

Most of the lower elevation lakes are fishing well right now.  This is leech season and we are well stocked on the patterns.  You can either strip these guys slowly on a slow sinking line, (my preference) or fish them under an indicator.  Other nymphs will catch fish as well if you can find the trout.  Don’t forget that

A lot of area lakes in the lower elevations are starting to ice out.  We’ve had more people heading over to Canyon Ferry than anywhere and it sounds like it can be good but a little inconsistent.  Ennis is pretty much all the way iced out.  It’s still a little low but fishable if you’re dieing

The ice on Ennis Lake is slowly coming off; first few days in the high-forties low-fifties should see most of the ice gone. As for now the banks in various places are open up to fifty feet out. This can be a good time of year the get a big cruising daddy before the lake starts seeing a lot of fishing pressure. Super slow retrieve

There still really isn’t any lake fishing options open right now. There are a few ponds in town that are opening up but they can be a little finicky this time of year. Probably the best bet will be Ennis Lake here in a few weeks. The edges are opening up as well as a few random spots in the middle. A couple

I took a drive a Hyalite late last week. The reservoir is still frozen all the way through the delta but there were a few places were the ice was thinning, which were cordoned-off. The there’s still plenty of snow up there but the lower creek is mostly clear of shelf ice. Another month or so until fishing parts of the reservoir might

Still pretty frozen.