For all of us NW Montanians. I took a drive out Hwy 2 yesterday to check ice conditions on a few lakes west of Kalispell.
Smith Lake - been froze over for awhile now and people fishing it for at least 2 weeks. Heard the pike are fairly willing if not all that big.
Bitterroot Lake - No ice. Still very liquid. Too bad as I am looking forward to some more of those kokanee. So I am assuming Ashley is not frozen yet - did not go up to Ashly lake though.
McGregor Lake - No ice. No surprise.
The Thompsons - All three have decent looking ice though I only stopped to fish on Upper yesterday. Upper has 9-10 inches. Only caught about a half dozen perch in the short time I was there. They were kind of deep - 20 - 50 feet down. Nothing shallow. No snow on the lakes so take your cleats or ice skates if you go.
That is all I checked but will try to get some more info up next week as I run around the area.
Good fishing to all.
