Winter Fishing Report
Winter holds an icy grip on Southwest Montana. Those brave souls that are venturing out on the nicer days are having some success. The Beaverhead and Ruby Rivers along with Poindexter Slough are the primary destinations in our area this time of year. Ice and near freezing water temperatures make the Big Hole and Jefferson rivers unfishable right now. Sowbugs, worms, and zebra midges are your best options. Slow and low with streamer patterns will yield some fish as well. The guys with the short rods are doing well ice fishing Clark Canyon Reservoir. While not much of an ice fisherman myself, their success bodes well for the upcoming season at the "lake".
While we wait for the arrival of Spring, we take solace in the fact that our snowpack is sitting right at normal and our reservoirs are mostly full. An above average flow from Clark Canyon Reservoir into the Beaverhead River for the fourth winter in a row means that 2020 should be even better than the fantastic fishing that we saw on the "Beav" in 2019. Don't forget that the river is closed from the dam downstream to Pipe Organ Bridge until the third Saturday in May. The river fished exceptionally well from Pipe Organ downstream last year, with the largest population increase of any piece of water in this part of the state according to our local biologist. Anglers will find lots of chunky fish stacked up in the "buckets" on that section of the river.