Montana Fishing Season Opens

The third Saturday in May is when Montana’s general fishing season opens. This year that was May 18. The general season closes November 30.

Not to make things confusing, but, Montana’s lakes and reservoirs are generally open year round.

I was driving on I-15 this weekend and lamented the heavy cloud cover.

Clouds bring rain though and they must make for pretty good fishing conditions because I saw quite a few drift boats and plenty of fishermen wading in the river.

The Missouri River is a blue ribbon rated trout river with over 2,000 trout per mile.

As you drive along I-15 between Great Falls and Helena, you parallel and cross the Missouri several times.

Brown “jumping fish” signs indicating public access are dotted along the interstate highway and the frontage road (old highway).

We did get rain, not too long after I took the photo above, and it didn’t seem to bother the fisherman at all. That rain (a blessing in Montana) continued all weekend and brought much needed moisture.

So, were the fish biting?

You’ll have to find that out for yourself and what a great reason to get out and experience our streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs!