Helena Area Ice

[PBRDoG]

Good morning,

New to the Helena area from the Midwest looking to get out on the Ice. Any tips on good lakes to start, ice conditions. Looks like a lot of lakes in the area are part of the river system so want to make sure I’m not getting myself on bad ice!

Thank you!

[Kilsdonk]

Go to the forum and look up the Lakes that are near you. Go back and read through the posts on each of the lakes and that will give you plenty to start with. Good Luck out there.

[PerchPounderMT]

Thank you for the response. I did look through forums and there are not any recent post about lakes in Helena area which is why I made the post.

there are several

[albo]

Georgetown freezes first and is being fished, the Helena Valley Regulating Reservoir and Lake Helena (part of Hauser) freeze up the earliest around here and are fishable currently as well as the south end of Canyon Ferry. shouldn't be long and Hauser will be good for wheelers to get down the causway arm. Holter is the last place around Helena to get fishable ice.

[elkchsr]

Welcome to the area!  My son is getting pretty excited about ice fishing now that it's been getting colder.  I'll be following this thread to get some tips on where to try.

[remyjames23]

I like Midwesterners. Canyon Ferry can be tough but it sounds like it is fishable at the moment at Silos Marina so maybe start there. Close to shore 5-15' of water seems best if you are looking for big rainbows, and 25-40' for perch. It can be a tough lake to fish, but swing into the Silos KOA and buy some tackle with their advice, they are always friendly and will know how the fishing has been. Make sure to check thickness as you go out, I doubt it is safe all the way out yet. Good luck

[Fortpeck1]

PBRDoG,
Lots of good water around Helena.
Check them out, please post what you find.
Lots of good people on this site and a few not so good.
Check the forum , there is a lot of info,[ make sure you choose the right dates or info is old.
Tight lines and good fishing
FP1