MoFisch: Fishing Report

September 1, 2010

Fishermen:

The August lull seems to be over with better catches in mid-depth (190 to 220 feet).  As the fish begin to stage for the fall spawn, they’ll be in decreasingly shallow water and become more aggressive.  Best fishing times will be from daylight till noon and then from 3:00 p.m. till dark.

The fish will begin to leave muddy-weedy areas and congregate in rocky areas most often adjacent to deep water.  Common spawning areas are from Boot Legger Island East to Bird Island.  Angel Point South to Painted rocks and in a more limited way from the North Point of Woods Bay south to the East side of Skidoo Bay.

Because there is not a sufficient perch population to keep the lakers in the shallow water after t hey spawn they’ll be scattered in the spawning depth from 20 to 80 feet all the way out to 300 feet where shrimp numbers are high.  Trolling or spinning in shallow water during the morning hour, shifting to deep water jigging during the mid-day and then either staying deep or returning to shallow water again in the evening would be a good approach from mid-October through mid-December. 

Whole fish set-ups in both shallow and deep water and trolling in shallow water continue to be successful for large lake trout. 

Small mouth bass fishing in the Flathead River below Kerr Dam has been great with grass hoppers and night crawlers being a good natural bait.  For artificials, crawdad imitations and Gary Yamamato watermelon Pumpkin 4”stickos  have been good producers.

Perch fishing at Lake Mary Ronan remains constant.  Some limits of kokanee are being caught on a glow hook below an attractor baited with a combination of maggots and corn and/or crawdad tail meat when available.  Gary Thomas from Camp Tuffit also reports bass up to 5 Lbs. being caught on Crank baits.  This September 25^th a mackinaw contest is scheduled for McGregor Lake  West of Kalispell.  Entry will be for two-man teams.  Contact Chancey at Snappys Sports Senter for details.  Phone (406)257-7525.  Fish generally become hyperactive during the fall season building body reserves for the winter.  Whatever species you target your chances are better this time of year.  All of you who have lamented the drop off in the summer’s whitefish fishing will have an opportunity in the Flathead River North of the lake.  If you contact Chancey at Snappy’s he can help you out.  He has produced a CD that covers all the aspects of this fall and winter fishery. 

For more information call us at 406-675-0068.  Email us at: macman@ronan.net. Or check our website at www.zimmertackle.com  This report WILL  be on that website. 

Good fishing ,

The Macman

Fishing remains to be very steady. Most days bring 5/6fish to the net. Very nice size fish, mostly 28-29″.  Catching one or two slot fish per day. Last week a 41″ 28lb. laker went to the taxidermist. Fising deep at 150ft using flatfish. Hot spots off the delta, east side and the south end. Also fish showing up in good numbers off Angel Point. No whitefish yet. I am hearing of a few being caught. If you are willing to do a lot of searching you will probably find some in the usual places, but be prepared to move many times a day.  Anyone find any whitefish let me know, and send me any fishing reports you have I enjoy hearing from you.

See ya on the water

Yesterday we had a great charter. We boated 15 fish. The biggest fish was 19lbs at 39″. We released 3 slot fish,  between 30 and 36 inches we have to release. Today was slower by comparison, we boated 5 fish and lost 3 more. The best advice I can give you is stay with it. It seems to be a better morning bite than the afternoon.  I am still pulling large flatfish on the bottom. Try the north delta area,  in  120 ft to 200 ft. try the center bar  in 80 ft of water.  The fish are spread out. We found a large concentration of fish off Angle Point.

I hear reports of a few whitefish being caught. Try the north delta in about 40 ft of water. Use your fish finder to locate schools of whitefish then try jigging. If they don’t bite keep looking.

Enjoy the summer weather on the lake.

The mid summer bite on Flathead Lake always seems to be a struggle. Catching has slowed down, we are boating 5/6 fish per trip. We are still fishing the north delta area. Also fish are showing up off Angle Point and the mid lake bar. This  time of year the fish spread out over the entire lake. Since they are not concentrated in any particular area your have to put more time in searching them out. The bite is slow, we are seeing fish on the finder but it is difficult to get them to bite. Stick with it, mix up your baits and enjoy the summer. The standard dodger and squids always work well.

See Ya On The Water

We are still fishing in and around the delta, at the north end.  The fish are still suspended in the 30 to 50ft. range over 80 to 200ft of water. Those suspended fish are fun to fish for and catch. Not having to worry about bouncing the bottom with the downrigger ball. I put out 6 to 8 lines and can vary the presentation. On the downriggers I have been using dodgers with squids. On the dipsy divers I will put spoons, and on the lead core I also use spoons.  On the sideplaners I put out some small dodgers and mini squides. (Remember if you aren’t tangled you’re  not trying). This is a nice mix to find the feeding fish and what they will hit on that day.

See You On The Water!

Well, the weather has finally settled down and the fish have turned on! Yesterday and todays charters were the best numbers of the year. 10 to 15 fish to the net is a very good day. All quality fish.We are fishing the delta  just sout and east of the the shallows. The thermal is 45 to 55ft down over the entire area. the fish are stacked in that depth. Very easy to find on the fish finder. Trolling dodgers or flashers with houchies or steamer flies. Mostly chrome flashers or dodger with white or green houchies. Some spoons are also working well in like colors.

GONE FISHNG

Sorry, I have not updated my fishing report lately. I will try and do a better job so I can stop getting hate emails.

The fishing has been very, very good! Lots of big fish, we sent 4 to the taxidermist last week, and we released many slot fish.  The biggest mack came in at 40″  22lbs. The run off has lasted longer than normal and the fish have been stacked up around the delta area. We have been averaging 6 to 10 fish per charter.  We are still pulling flatfish on the bottom for the bigger fish. The morning bite seems to end around 11:00  then I usually switch over and pull flashers and squids, or some spoons. Fishing nearer the shallow delta are for numbers of smaller fish. The fish have been suspended through out the water column. This afternoon we put 4 fish in the boat in less than 2 hours and I was fishing spoons only 35ft down over 200ft. of water, and that was at 3:00P.M.  The weather has been cooperating. Spoons I like the crockadile in perch pattern or rainbow. White glow hutchies are working very well behind dodgers in chrome color.

Gone Fishing

I did a charter this morning and had great catching. We boated 3 fish over the slot. The biggest fish was 38″ 18lbs. We also boated 4 fish at 28/29 inches.  The weather was perfect fishing weather. No wind, light rain, and the fish were biting, we fished the bottom at 160′ to 180′. Fishing south of the delta on the east side. I marked many fish, it was a great day for one of veterans on memorial day.

See Ya on the water

John Yourk is a guide for me from Libby. John will have his jet boat here in Kalispell for the summer. We are doing some great pike fishing in the sloughs off the FLathead River. Lots of action and some very nice size pike.