Fishing at Flathead Lake

[TRS_Montana]

Headed up to Flathead this weekend for my kid’s seventh birthday. We just have a 4-person raft that I’ll be puttering around on. The kids love fishing whether we catch anything or not, so regardless of the futility of my quest we’ll be giving it a whirl.

I’m wondering, though, if anyone has any advice for upping the chances of catching some fish from a relatively immobile watercraft on Flathead. Thanks!!

 

[Sytes]

Tribal side or northern? I'd stay in the Lakeside area, if northern side. Reasonably protected, no tribal license required and perch always bite. Could toss a good sized bobber with double treble through a chunk of squawfish, hose it with wd40 and let that sit in the perch areas... See a scatter on the top water... May be in luck with a laker cruising.

 

[Art Vandeley]

What part of the lake will you be on?

 

[TRS_Montana]

We’ll be camping on Finley Point, but I think we’ll probably head to the northern half to fish

 

[Bhoesl]

If on the southern half of the lake you’ll need a tribal license to fish. Might sound crazy but a pork sausage link on a treble hook above a slip sinker will catch lake trout just about anywhere early morning or late evening. Good luck!

 

[Art Vandeley]

You could also try vertical jigging with white tubes... Zimmer tackle in Pablo has some good stuff. Drop to the bottom and then start reeling in towards the surface, they will chase it.

 

[Pagosa]

Anyone ever try smallmouth on the Tribal side, like Big Arm/Wildhorse islands? TrsMontana I hope you have fun, and the lake is beautiful

 

[TRS_Montana]

Thanks for the tips, guys! We actually ended up at lake Mary Ronan and did more swimming and screwing around than fishing. Only a couple bites on the weekend, but I wouldn’t say we really gave it a go.

 

[runningmt]

We’ve only hired one guide in our lives, and it was a half day on Flathead targeting Lake Trout

Caught enough to bring some home and also eat some at camp, Lake Trout are delicious, Flathead Lake Trout are some of the best tasting fish on earth.

Guide was a douchebag, but we didn’t let the that ruin the experience.

 

[Sytes]

Zimmer tackle in Pablo has some good stuff.

Boy, that brings back some memories... We used to stop by earlier than he opened the shop - at his house and he'd have a cooler of our sqawfish ready to go for our lake trout fishing. Great guy!