I just returned from a 4-day fishing stint in the Seeley area. Here's some current info on the lakes I was able to hit:
Salmon Lake (12/30) - Clear ice approx 6-7 inches on the northern half of the lake, just north of the last island. No standing water (until the holes were drilled, that is). Hard to believe, but I saw 3 or 4 pickup trucks traveling on the surface...they were a bit further up the northern part of the lake, so maybe the ice was thicker there (I'm guessing). Bite for pike was way slow, probably because this little muskrat kept popping up in my shanty holes (all day!)...maybe because I was feeding him some dead bait?
He was entertaining to see, though.
Seeley Lake (12/31/07) - 6 inches standing water at the River Point access, hidden beneath a 2 inch crust (sneaky, huh?). After walking out a short distance, I decided to turn around and hit Placid Lake instead. I did not see anyone else on this lake for the 4 days I was staying in town.
Placid Lake (12/31/07) - This one had 1-2 inches of standing water underneath the crust, but was fishable. Clear ice was approx 6 inches.
Echo Lake (near Flathead L.) (1/1/07) - Only 3-4 inches of clear ice, with another 1-2 inch white ice layer on top. Some areas were slushy on surface, but most of the ice was dry on top. Perch bite was hot (right off the bottom), but almost all were under 6 inches. I must have pulled up 50-60 perch around the main island, mostly at 9 - 13 ft deep; biggest one was about 9 inches. I had a tip-up set up all day for pike, no takers. BTW, I took a drive out to the northern part of Flathead Lake - absolutely no ice ANYWHERE).
Brown Lake (just west of Lincoln) (1/2/07) - Approx 11-12 inches of clear ice, under 4-5 inches of dry snow. Plenty of folks were out there fishing for trout, but bite was slow for everyone that I talked to. I was at about 17 feet of water, saw several on the LX-5 come off the bottom to sniff the lure/bait....tried everything, not one bite all day! Those fishing in 6-8 ft had slightly better luck.
That's about all the fun I had....hope it's useful for somebody planning on fishing these lakes in the next few days.
