Billings Area

[FinalSwim]

I am planning a visit to see one of my buddies in Billings in a couple weeks and am debating on bringing the ice fishing gear or not. Was wondering if there were any areas somewhat close that a guy could try catching a few pike. I live in Belgrade and the opportunity for them don't come often without a long road trip. Any tips on what to use and where to go would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[Tacojuan]

There's not a whole lot of ice fishing opportunities for pike close to billings. Trr is probably the closest place to billings to ice some pike. However if you are up to open water fishing the stone around Forsyth can fish pretty well for them and the river is wide open. Hope this helps

[FinalSwim]

Yeah I was afraid TRR was the closest. I was looking on the map and saw Cooney Reservoir in Roberts. Looked the place up online and said it held walleye and pike. Are you familiar with it?

[FinalSwim]

I stand corrected walleye and trout but still curious about the place.

[Buckshot86]

I was thinking about driving to cooney by myself for the day.  Not a terribly big fan of the place, but all the trout are nice footballs with a chance at walleye and ling. The water is clear and it offers nightbite oppurtunity as well. Live minnows are illegal. I use Gulp rainbow power bait for trout and also worms. The fish get plenty of pressure so I rig light as possible.

[fishon1054]

If you want Pike, Ft Peck is the place to go!  A couple days of ice fishing and you should have your limit.

[Tacojuan]

Cooney is real hit or miss it can be good for ling and trout through the ice but is usually pretty slow. Fort peck is an awesome place to get pike but I'm not sure you'll want to make the drive. Good luck with whatever decide

[FinalSwim]

Thanks for the info guys. Plenty of area for good size trout around me close otherwise I'd make the jaunt down there and check It out.