Fishing Report Updated September 10, 2023
This Montana private lake fishing report is valid from September 10 until about September 25, basically whenever we start seeing several hard frosts in a row.
The private lakes are slowly turning on. “Slowly” because afternoons have still been pretty warm. Several cold nights will start killing weeds and making the trout interested in leeches. The late September and October leech fishing is our favorite fishing of the year on the private lakes.
On the Story Lakes, heavy weed growth argues for fishing dry-dropper. There are still plenty of Callibaetis hatching, so a #14 Parachute Adams, Brindle Chute, or dedicated Callibaetis parachute with a BLM, Pheasant Tail, or small chironomid on the dropper is a good place to start. Look for fish cruising the clear patches in the weeds. Fight them tooth and nail with a high rod position to keep them from diving into the crud and breaking off.
Burns Lake is good this time of year on hopper-dropper rigs and sometimes even on leeches, since this lake has fewer weeds than others.