IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Montana => Ice Fishing Montana => Topic started by: Mt.Bucket on Nov 29, 2008, 06:45 PM
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Took a drive today and went to Ovado and found Browns lake totally froze over, but ice was rotten. Same with Upsata lake, froze but crap! Nevada creek Res wide open. So looks like we'll be fishing around another couple weeks or so if the weather could get a little colder. I'll be ice hunting up north tomorrow and will post what I find. Going to go check out Pishkun Res and Split rock maybe a couple others if I can't find anything. Later, and would like to hear some other reports.
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Pish,Nilan and willow are wide open,Ill be up there tomorow hunting Ill let you know if I see any ice.
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Been reports of ice fishing at Georgetown over the weekend. One regular on the Montana Outdoors Chat Forum reported he fished near Redbridge and found 4" of good ice under inch of slush. He reported fair fishing for small trout and even smaller Kokanee. My sister spend Thanksgiving at GT and said there were several parties ice fishing. Personally think it is still early for the lake as a whole especially with the warmer temps the last few days. Still quite a bit of open water near the edges and on the south end where water is warm with lots of springs. We are thinking of driving over mid week and taking a couple of augers and checking GT out. In addition to the State now having a web cam where you can look at pictures of GT Lake in near real time online, the National Weather Service has relocated thier Computerized Weather Station near 7 Gables so we can check the temps and snow depth daily online. It's really been useful over the years.
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I had a customer come in today at work and said he fished Frank Lake. This lake is near Eureka, and had about 2" of ice. He said he drilled several holes and got movement so he made shot of the trip. Trout were taken.
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I heard the same Georgetown report from a friend with a cabin on the lake.
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I heard yesterday that Lower Stillwater is covered with ice and people are fishing it. 3" is the measurement that was reported.... After this little warm weather system I wonder if it will still be there...
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catgrizfans,
If you make that trip to Georgetown this week, let us know what you find and the areas or bays you checked out. Thanks for the info.
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.45-75WCF
10-4! The spot forcast for Georgetown Lake is for 7 above tonight and 8 above tommorrow night. Just a forcast but sounds good. We decided to drive over from Stevi on Friday based on this. Will concentrate on West Side ie Philispburg Bay to Comers Point but look over the entire Lake. Will post what we find out.
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catgrizfans,
That would be great. Look forward to getting your report. I'm here in Florence and our plan was to go over on Saturday. This may depend on your report. Good luck.
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Ya let us know. I was thinking of going over saturday or sunday.All depends on how i feel the flu sucks!
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I can tell you it has been COLD here! I will be out on Comers Saturday to check it out. I work with a guy that lives on the lake and he said there have been "Ice Kiters" on the lake at Dentons but he had not seen anyone fishing yet. That was day before so I am sure with the cold it is making ice fast.
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Anyone know anything with this recent cold snap??
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I know that Smith Lake out by Kila has fishable 3-4 inches of ice.
I'm heading to Lake 5, Half-Moon Lake and Lion Lake to check them all at lunch today....will report back....
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catgrizfans,
That would be great. Look forward to getting your report. I'm here in Florence and our plan was to go over on Saturday. This may depend on your report. Good luck.
(We made a quick trip to GT Lake this morning 12/5) (had to get back so did not fish). The lake is completely iced over expect for a stringer of what appears to be open water west of Denton's Point. Two ice fishing parties near Sunnyside, one at Comers Point, and one over near Red Bridge. We drilled holes on the West Side and measured with tape. Solid 3-3.5 inches of new ice 25 to 100 feet out from shore. The exception was one point at Sunnyside when we walked out another 200 feet there was less than 2 inches in one hole. Roads ok but a little slick, only a couple of inches snow so access roads are fine. Warmer temps (36 degrees when we left mid morning) than expected coupled with brisk south end is causing some degradation to the existing ice, ie slush. Also wind has made portions slick to walk on without cleats. Bottom line: We have decided to wait a little longer for colder weather and a little thicker ice, but people are fishing.)
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catgrizfans,
That would be great. Look forward to getting your report. I'm here in Florence and our plan was to go over on Saturday. This may depend on your report. Good luck.
(We made a quick trip to GT Lake this morning 12/5) (had to get back so did not fish). The lake is completely iced over expect for a stringer of what appears to be open water west of Denton's Point. Two ice fishing parties near Sunnyside, one at Comers Point, and one over near Red Bridge. We drilled holes on the West Side and measured with tape. Solid 3-3.5 inches of new ice 25 to 100 feet out from shore. The exception was one point at Sunnyside when we walked out another 200 feet there was less than 2 inches in one hole. Roads ok but a little slick, only a couple of inches snow so access roads are fine. Warmer temps (36 degrees when we left mid morning) than expected coupled with brisk south end is causing some degradation to the existing ice, ie slush. Also wind has made portions slick to walk on without cleats. Bottom line: We have decided to wait a little longer for colder weather and a little thicker ice, but people are fishing.)
Thanks for the info. 40degF at my house this morning so I think I will pass until there is more ice. I like 6" of ice before I go. Making sausage today so will stay house and babysit the smokehouse.
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Lion Lake = 85% covered over 2" at the edges all good clear ice
Halfmoon = Covered, couldn't find the way in but could see the whole lake so no Ice depths
Lake 5 = 75% covered only access area I know of at the shore still in the "unfrozen zone", all the ice looks black
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Tongue river res still pretty much wide open.. :'(
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nelson is 95% covered. Didn't check ice depth, probably 1-3"
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Well, after reading catgrizfans report last evening about the conditions at Georgetown Lake, I wasn't very excited about going over today. Especially when my fishing partner had to cancel because of the flu. Against my better judgement, winter storm/freezing ice warnings and the not-so-hot-so lake reports I'd heard, I went over anyway by myself. I left Florence at 6:15 and was in my ice house fishing by 8:30. There were only six houses on the lake that I could see and four of them were at Sunnyside. That is our usual hangout so I was pleased to see others in the same area. I drilled a hole in about 4" of good ice (be sure to wear your ice cleats, because it's REALLY slick) put my jig in the water, watched the fish finder and before 9:30, I had landed fourteen Rainbow and one Salmon. By the time I left at 2:00pm I had caught only two Salmon, but I landed fourty four Rainbow. That's right, fourty four. It was a GREAT first day of the season.
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Hyalite has no good ice and is open on the upper end by the boat dock.
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I fished Hylite today on 5in.
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The ice didnt look safe at all......you must've fished down by the dam.
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I was on the south end of the lake, went back up this morning and all the melted snow from yesterday has frozen.
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Nelson is still frozen, saw 3 guys on the ice on my way to chase pheasants. I wouldn't chance it yet though. THey must not have stayed long cause on my way back with a couple roosters they were gone. They were on the N. end. It'll be fishable by the weekend I would think, supposed to get below 0 towards the end of the week :o
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Hyalite has no good ice and is open on the upper end by the boat dock.
Yeah.. you're right, there's noo fishable ice at hylite. ::). Then how did I fish 5-6 inches of ice both saturday AND sunday?
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Well, after reading catgrizfans report last evening about the conditions at Georgetown Lake, I wasn't very excited about going over today. Especially when my fishing partner had to cancel because of the flu. Against my better judgement, winter storm/freezing ice warnings and the not-so-hot-so lake reports I'd heard, I went over anyway by myself. I left Florence at 6:15 and was in my ice house fishing by 8:30. There were only six houses on the lake that I could see and four of them were at Sunnyside. That is our usual hangout so I was pleased to see others in the same area. I drilled a hole in about 4" of good ice (be sure to wear your ice cleats, because it's REALLY slick) put my jig in the water, watched the fish finder and before 9:30, I had landed fourteen Rainbow and one Salmon. By the time I left at 2:00pm I had caught only two Salmon, but I landed fourty four Rainbow. That's right, fourty four. It was a GREAT first day of the season.
[/Glad you had a good first day. Boy you must have been cleaning trout till midnight!!! (just kidding!) Another couple of guys we know from Stevi must have fished near you Sat. and reported near 4 inches ice and lots of small trout , but only 3-4 salmon which isn't unusual there for the salmon this time of year. Curious, did you hook on to any of the older age class trout, ie 17-20+ inchers? Last year was the first year for a long time that we did not catch many of the bigger trout in the Badger Bay Area. Again, good job and didn't mean to be too conservative with my report but worry about someone without experience reading it and getting into trouble in the early season. Hope to see you on the ice!!! ]
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It's always best to be a little conservative when reporting the thickness of "new" ice. I saw some tire tracks from a pickup where some idiot had driven out on only 3 or 4 inches of ice. He made a big circle about 100 feet out and then back to shore. I didn't keep any fish on this first trip out, but may keep a couple each time from here on out. I don't need a whole freezer full of fish. Here are some estimated figures and size ranges of the trout from last Saturday. I actually hooked forty eight trout and lost four. Of the forty four I landed, five or six were 9 to10 inch. Around twenty five were in the 12 to 14 inch class and the rest were all over 14 inch. I think the largest was 17 or 18 inch. The water was 16 feet deep where I was fishing and I fished at 12 to 14 feet. Next Saturday.
Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to Georgetown I go.
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I went to G-town yesterday but did not get out there until 3:30pm. Went to comers. 4-5" of good ice.
Caught 8 fish. 1 smaller one and the rest all 12"-14". Fished about 2 hours. There was some open water straight out from parking area.
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Yeah.. you're right, there's noo fishable ice at hylite. ::). Then how did I fish 5-6 inches of ice both saturday AND sunday?
How was the fishing up at Hyalite? Any nice cuts or grayling to report?
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I'm sorry I jumped to my conclusion ok......I merely did not like the color of the ice and acknoledge that I was wrong in my report.
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Georgetown lake, Do you fish over weeds or gravel? Last year I had a hard time finding anything but weeds. Might go next week. Sounds like a bit of a cooling spell coming in.
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I'm sure there are those who know the lake better than I do, but I've fished Georgetown for many years both summer and winter. Except for some areas along the shore line, I've never found a gravel bottom at any depth. P-Burg Bay this summer was especially bad for weeds. We usually fish over weeds in the winter or just at the edge of a weed bed. I would be interested to hear what others have to say.
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As 45-75 said on the edge of weed bed. I have drilled holes and not even been able to get a hook down because of the weeds but still fish over weeds.
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catgrizfans: how do I find the National Weather station at Georgetown Lake? Thanks, Icejigs.
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try this site
http://rwis.mdt.mt.gov/scanweb/SWCameraSummary.asp?Pageid=CamSummary&Units=English&Groupid=150000&Siteid=&Senid=&Wxid=&Mapid=&DisplayClass=Java&SenType=All&HEndDate=&Zoneid=&Mode=&Sprayerid=&Dvid=&CD=12%2F13%2F2008+2%3A18%3A24+PM&SysMenu=1
if not try road report or road cameras from the goverment site and it brings to all the hiway cameras
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catgrizfans: how do I find the National Weather station at Georgetown Lake? Thanks, Icejigs.
[/Sorry for the late reply but was out. There are 2 sites that I think are very useful #1 the road report camera that shows 3 views of GT Lake: www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/weather/rwis_google.shtml. (Arn't these URLs fun??] #2 is the NOAA site that has weather and forecasts: www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso/newlcl.php Should bring up map, you can run your cursor over and find GTL. Then click on for once a day temp, and snow depth near 7-Gables. Upper left of page is search box that lets you type in location for SPOT forecast. For GTL just type in georgetownlake,mt for Stevensville stevensville,mt etc, etc. You can move the map around and click on anywhere in MT for spot forecasts. Was a lot of times in the close to 50 years I have fished GTL that this tech. would have saved us turning around or getting into trouble a couple of times years ago. all4elk had a good idea, if these don't do what they should just use google to find MT Road Report Site and NOAA Weather site and go from there. Hope this helps.
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Got on to Harrison Lake today. Ice ranged from 6 to 8 inches. Winds were surprisingly calm for this lake, and temps were a balmy 20 degrees. Shared the lake with maybe 6 other people. Fishing was slow, but did catch a 3.5 lb rainbow, a 1.5 lb brown (which I put back in), and I missed 3 other strikes. All in all, a great start to the season. Look forward to getting back over there after this next cold snap.
bill
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People finally getting out there huh? I live within a mile about of the lake but fish the willow creek arm almost exclusively. Had about 12inches over there and marked quite a few fish but only had two hits, I missed mine but my brother hooked his which was a dink (14" >:(). I was at the lake last night getting a buddy unstuck from a snow drift. Did you fish the point or straight out from the boat dock?
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I saw that you were from the Harrison area, and was kind of surprised that I hadn't seen you post an ice condition report, now I understand why. I usually fish between the first point and the sand bluff just as you come in to the lake. I also fish just north and west of the boat ramp area (I like fishing the shallower water just to the west of the deeper area). I fished the first area yesterday. I expect we will probably run into each other at some point this winter if you make it over to that area. I usually fish during the week days (retired military) and leave the weekends to the crowds.
bill
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I actually think I did see you out there fishing off that little willow sand bar that is near the mouth of that channel you come in on. The ice is really firming up but man o man that lake really likes to groan all the time. I've been posting ice and fishing reports on the montana fishing reports and conditions forum as much as possible. I've always been taught to fish deep but have had good luck in shallow water. I drive a red chevy by the way :) Good Luck and tight lines!!
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fished browns on the 6th of dec good ice and drove to nevada creek and it looked pretty good and after this cold snap will probably be great ice.
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Fished Harrison a bunch in college but haven't really been back. Mostly due to the fact that I've had a lot of really cold days and little success. I always fished in the bay in front of the boat ramp. Are there other ways in to fish or is that the only access. I have always heard great things. Even heard about a "special color jig" but like I said never really had any good luck there
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Fished Harrison a bunch in college but haven't really been back. Mostly due to the fact that I've had a lot of really cold days and little success. I always fished in the bay in front of the boat ramp. Are there other ways in to fish or is that the only access. I have always heard great things. Even heard about a "special color jig" but like I said never really had any good luck there
Yeah, like the time we went and dulled 3 or 4 augers within a couple holes each because of all the debris in the ice from the wind :o
I developed a strong hatred for Harrison on that day ;D
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how doing wingnutty.
yep fond memories of harrison, but I know they are in there. Thinking I might head out there again sometime. Got the Vexi now so worst that can happen is I don't catch any. Wouldn't be the first time out there.
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The main road in from Harrison is the only way I know of. I understand that there are a few other routes in, but I think that they all traverse private property. I see a lot of people go in with ATV's when the ice is good and head primarily north to the neck, but I stay on foot so hit the areas close to the campgrounds.
On snowless years the winds really drive across the surrounding land mass and deposit a LOT of grit on the ice making it real difficault on the ole auger blades. But I guess that every area has one pitfall or another, huh?
I gave up on color a few years ago. It seemed like one year "green" did real well, then the next, "red" was the key. Pretty much fish different colors on my rods until I find a color that seems more consistent than the others. I do the same as far as depth, one rod a few feet down, the other towards the bottom. I suppose the way that I fish is somewhat a crapshoot, but it usally works.
I like Harrison primarily for two reasons. One - usually not a big crowd there. Second - although you usually don't catch a lot of fish, the ones that you do catch are usually pretty nice fish.
Can't wait till middle of next week (I think temps are moderating into the teens by then) so that I can head back over to try again.
By the way, anyone here ever fish Delmoe Lake. I never have, but someone told me a few days ago that there are some pretty nice fish there as well. I would think that it gets hammered quite a bit by the Butte folk, but am not sure.
bill
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I've only been to delmoe once and I got a creepy feeling. There were a bunch of strange people there and they were all just staring at us like people do in a horror movie. Probably not a reason not to go back but I haven't been. As for harrison I'd love to learn more if your ever planning on heading out maybe we can hook up. I have an atv if need be but I've had some bad experiences so I'd rather wait till the ice gets thicker.
joe
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The only legal and direct route to access Harrison Lake is to turn at the ATM and go out that way. The other private way is likely going to get locked up due to the increase of boat traffic in the summers. I agree with Waterloo when he says there isnt a specific color to use that I have found. Caught 4 fish last year and one was one a orange ratso, white/chartreuse pimple w/egg, Tiny Tot green trout jig, Wooly Bugger, and an airplane jig........Some people like to use just a plain hook with a worm, an egg, or a maggot, and they have decent success. There is quite a bit of ice out there now so people will start showing up with their 4-wheelers before long. Tight Lines
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For Joe - am planning on going back to the lake on wednsday if wind permits. I personally don't use an ATV, so ice thickness isn't a concern with me. If you or cutbow make it out on wednsday, I drive a aqua-blue ford f150. I also get my gear on the ice with a clam shelter (altho I never set it up).
bill
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Went to Holter today, 5 inches down At Log gulch, caught 8 rainbows and lost three in an hour and a half...