Fishing has been good for lake trout anglers on Flathead Lake. The lake whitefish have not been cooperating as well, with anglers not reporting much success. Hopefully the lake trout fishing continues to be good through next weekend for the annual Great Montana Mac Attack. That is when catching a lake trout, whitefish and even one northern pike minnow could mean cash in your tackle box. The Mac Attack is a two-day fishing derby held August 7th and 8th and hosted by Dels Bar in Somer, Montana, which is located on the north end of Flathead Lake. This year they once again boast $25,000 in prizes and giveaways. . “Lake trout fishing continues to be hot”, said Matt McCombs from Mo Fisch Charters. They have been catching big fish and a lot of two to three pound macs trolling on the north end of the lake. “The mid lake bar that runs from the river delta south to around Angels point has been the area of the lake producing the best for us”, said McCombs. For the smaller fish that are suspended McCombs recommends targets fish 40-60 feet deep in around 100 feet of water. “The bigger fish are mostly on the bottom so we are using steel line to stay consistently on the bottom”, added McCombs. On the south end of the lake Dick Zimmer plans on going after the bigger fish by using his whole bait set-up. “I will be baiting one rod with a larger bait fish and the other rod I will have a smaller whole bait fish on it and see how that works”, added Zimmer, “my hope is the larger fish will go after the bigger bait fish”. This fishing technique for this method of fishing will have your bait to be on the bottom of the lake. This method provides for a little bit more patience but has proven to be successful when you are able to anchor over a school of active fish. At this year’s Great Montana Mac Attack the largest lake trout over 36- inches will be worth $1000, that same amount goes for largest lake trout that is entered under 29 inches. There is also $500 for the largest lake trout entered under 25 inches. The derby also includes a whitefish division and a pike minnow category. Registration is $25 and you can register at Dels Bar in Somers 857-3351 and by calling Fincher 261-6445 or log onto www.montanamackattack.com
Last week I made my second fishing trip this month to Fort Peck Reservoir. This trip Brandt Hamernick from Missoula came along. The water level continues to rise on this 134-mile lake. During the month the lake level rose close to 24 inches. The rising water and the weather made for good fishing one day and not so good the next day. We caught a lot of nice walleyes in the 16-18 inch size and about a half dozen that were over 20 inches.
