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Like fishing? Then you will love Glacier National Park. From roaring,
wild rivers to mind-blowing lakes, Glacier National Park offers
fine fishing in even finer settings. The park has 653 lakes totaling
27,00 acres and 392 miles of shoreline. The park also has 563
streams totaling 1,606 miles. That's quite a bit of water to wet
your line in.
A permit is not necessary to fish Glacier National Park, unlike
Yellowstone National Park. Nor is a Montana fishing license required.
Lead of any style is not permitted in Glacier National Park except
for cannonball downriggers. Bull trout are protected in Glacier's
waters and fishing for them is not permitted. If you see one of
these rare beasts swimming the clear waters, count yourself lucky.
Cutthroat, rainbow, brook , bull and lake trout roam the park's
waters. You can find lake trout in the deeper, larger lakes such
as St. Mary and Lake McDonald. To hunt down the lakers, you will
usually need a boat - although they can be fished for in spring
in the shallow areas of lakes. For lures, use silver spinners
or heavier streamers that imitate cutthroat.
Lake McDonald: This rather nutrient poor lake holds good
populations of lake trout and low populations of cutthroat. If
you are fishing this lake, plan on lake trout being the only realistic
target. In spring and early summer they can be caught with spinners
and streamers in shallow waters (the Apgar area for example).
As the water warms, they head for the depths and require a boat
to fish them.
Swiftcurrent Lake: Swiftcurrent has a good population of
brook trout which will rise to a dry fly in the evenings and mornings.
For daytime fishing, try streamers fished deep around rock piles
or silver spinners. When it's a windy late summer day, a hopper
pattern fished in the inlet can often take nice brookies.
Two Medicine Lakes: Two Medicine holds a nice population
of rainbows and brook trout. The trout will take dry flies in
the early morning hours and evenings, especially on calm waters.
If the water is not too warm, large stimulator and hopper patterns
can work very well. The rainbows can be fished for with streamers
and spinners down deep in the day time. The outlet from Two Medicine
into Pray Lake can often be good, but also crowded. The state
record brook trout of 9.06 pounds came out of Lower Two Medicine
in 1940, but access is tough on the park portion of the lake.
Upper Two Medicine is a short hike uptrail from Two Medicine,
and offers good fishing for brook trout.
St. Mary Lake: This spectacular lake holds cutthroat trout,
rainbow trout, lake trout, whitefish and bull trout. Fishing is
tough due to the depth and access. This lake is often incredibly
windy, making float tubes or paddle boats a risky proposition
on rough days. The outlet can be good for rainbows on attractor
patterns and silver spinners. Please continue to Fishing
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