Fly fishing for lake trout - Flathead Lake October 2018 

Lol, not catfish, got a nice sucker tho.

I was not expecting to hook into a sucker either, I must have been dragging that hook on the bottom and Yeah, I will be purchasing a bigger net for next week.

You should make a special trip, I am going back on the 14th I think. This week I am going to try Lake McDonald before they close it off to boats.

Do you think I would have luck from shore?

Cory Kump yes, but I would wait until the water gets colder. The two that I caught were in casting distance, but also at 30ft

Head to east glacier. I was catching lakers at the bottom of running eagle falls in july

Yep thats it, but I was drifting really slowly. Basically my line was directly below me, or whenever I can feel the bottom. I was using a brown woolly bugger, but I would think an egg pattern would also attract them.

2kGardiner17 I have heard Wayferers state park is a good place. I really want to try it myself. I think if you get lucky enough to be on the lake without wind, you would do pretty good. I’ve been on the lake with my float tube on a windy day and you are just constantly fighting the waves. No fun.

Depending where you are fishing. If you are near Poison you can potentially catch small mouth, perch, and maybe a Laker if you are lucky. During the fall you can throw a krocodile and hook into lakers on the shore line. I was fishing near Lakeside in this video.

The sonar said 30ft in depth and thats where my hook was at when I hooked both of those lake trout. When I found those whitefish, the sonar said 70ft, but they were swimming at 40ft and that is about where my line was when I hooked into them. We just got rain the other day and snow last night and I am hoping this cooler weather will bring more of them into the shallows.

Fish the 406 gotcha, keep up the vids looking for that 15lber!

@@Fishthe406 what kind of fly line did you use to get 40'? All the sinking line info I'm finding seems to be capped at 30'... just let it sink longer?

@@bamsberry1581 Hey Bamsberry, so I must be mistaken. I've been attempting to fish in deeper waters lately, however I don't think my line ever got down to 40ft, I know it can get down to 30ft because i get snags when I am moving too slow. When i was fishing for those whitefish I must have gotten lucky and caught a few that were swimming around 30ft. Ive let over 100ft of line out before and never hit bottom, I really don't think they sink passed 30 ft or so.

Yes sir. I never know what I’m doing when I use my fly rod here. I just hope I get lucky. I’ve been out there 4 times in the fall and only had luck the one time.

Yes, Macs or mackinaw

Yeah, it is that time. I’ve never tried Wayfarers, but I’ll always assumed it would be better the west shore. You planning on hitting it up beginning of next month?

@@Fishthe406 Yes. It seems like fall is coming a bit early. I may try Loon tomorrow. So many places and types of fish here.

Craig Solin good luck at Loon, that place is usually good for 3 to 4 nice fish. I do wanna hit up flathead lake, and lake McDonald for Lakers. I might bring a regular fishing pole and see how that works. I feel like my line isn’t getting down deep enough. Once the lakers come into the 30ft range then it’s game on. With the cold weather and rain we have been getting they should be coming closer to the shore line.

@@Fishthe406 yea sometimes you have to go conventional. I was thinking spoons or jigs and using a kayak one of these days.

Did you try Wayfarers? I’m thinking about going tomorrow morning.

Joshua Rin hey Joshua, don’t remember what fly I used, but it had a bead head and I was using full sink fly line. I think I have a full sink that sinks 3 - 4 inches per second. I know I can hit bottom at 30ft, but any farther than that I have no idea. There is a certain depth where the line will not go any farther down, unless you have some heavy weight on. Does that answer your question?

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Hahaha, yeah. I don’t think I like the deeper. It’s usually been wrong, but there has been a update.

I had no idea certain individuals like the idea of wiping out bulls, and cuts for lakers.

@@Fishthe406 Look into the revenue base for commercial fishing in the flathead area... The majority comes from the charter boats/outfitters chasing lake trout including events like mack days. The problem goes further than the lake trout its really the mysis shrimp that are the problem. The FWP thinks bulls are coexisting and still spawning in their historic range but their numbers haven't improved. Its the same for pike in the clarck fork and flathead drainage. There is no money being put into valid research to solve the problem of invasive species and when you grow up catching trout, their appeal dwindles in favor of more aggressive larger warm water/cold water species that can draw in larger crowds. Its a cluster F. What happens to the individuals who have literally built their lively hoods and family's livelihoods if the lake trout go. There aren't enough bulls, cutties and whities to sustain a trophy fishery...the mysis shrimp will flourish out of control if the lakers don't keep the in check. So its simple keep the lake trout, everyone wins... but the natives...

@@montanastrongremodelrenova1632 I saw a 20 lb pike in the Flathead 😕

@@montanastrongremodelrenova1632 flathead is the worst run lake in montana.. its a shadow of what it could be all so the old guys can troll for lakers... they should manage it like pendorielle