Flathead Lake has the distinction of being the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. At 125,000 acres, it stretches from the mount of the Flathead River in Somers, southward to the Kerr Dam in Polson.
The lake is deep at 360ft and clear, and home to several species. Lake Trout abound as do Lake Superior Whitefish, Perch, Squawfish, and Bull Trout, or Dolly Varden as the latter are sometimes called. The southern half of the Lake resides on the Salish Kootenai Reservation, and this fact makes for a political situation that serves the angler.
Bull Trout are native, and have a unique relationship to the SK Indians. Lake Trout and Whitefish are non-native, being introduced by logging industry tycoons back at the beginning of the twentith century.
For many years, Flathead Lake was a balanced fishery, carrying Kokanee Salmon, Bull Trout, Lake Trout, Whitefish and Cutthroat in equal numbers. But then the hand of man intervened when Montana's FWP decided to experiment upstream in the Whitefish River, which is a tributary to Flathead Lake. FWP introduced Mysis Relicta, aka Opossum Shrimp into Whitefish Lake in 1980 in an attempt to increase the size of the Kokanee Salmon. They did this based on research in Canada's Kootenai Lake, where the Salmon were feeding on the shrimp.
Bad idea based on incomplete data. In Kootenai Lake there are natural upwellings that carry the photo-sensitive shrimp to the surface. Salmon are surface feeders, primary on zoo-plankton. A high protein source like shrimp makes them get huge in a hurry. But, no such upwelling mechanism exists in Whitefish and the experiment failed.
There was an unintended consequence. Isn't there always. Spring run-off carried some shrimp downstream into the Flathead Lake. As fortune would have it, Flathead has a unique form of zoo-plankton, or waterflea that is an especially suited foodsource to the Mysis Relicta. Shrimp biomass exploded.
The Salmon loved it too for a while, but the big danger came later. Each of Flathead's Lake Trout lays 5000 eggs each year. With a brand new food source, juvenile mortality dropped way off and the population of Lake Trout started to soar. It went from an estimated 30,000 adults to 400,000 adults in a decade. Lake Trout are voracious. As soon as the new Juveniles grow to adults, they switch to feeding on Kokanee. The Salmon fishery crashed. Cutthroats were also wiped out. Lack of shallow water trout let the perch fry explode and then so did the Whitefish, which feed on perch fry in the summer. Only the Bull Trout hold their own, primarily because they spawn up in the tributaries.
What this means to the angler is at this point in time, Flathead Lake represents the best fishing I've ever experienced anywhere. FWP is counting on anglers to increase Lake Trout and Whitefish mortality rates. Right now, limits are 50 Lake Trout and 100 Whitefish per person, per day. Essentially unlimited fishing. Shrimp fed Lake Trout filet out bright red like the finest Salmon. Pound for pound, it's hard to beat the fighting ability of a muscle bound Whitefish on light tackle.
Best of all. No boats. No people. Here's some pics.
First, I might apologize for not being back here in a while. Turns out that fortune has smiled my way (for a change). A local outfitter hired me and my little Piscator (Crestliner 20ft) to be part of his fleet this year. Because of that, I've been a trifle busy with upgrades to gear and equipment.
To answer the questions: depth is dependent on water temp, light conditions (overcast, sunny, etc) and food source. Just now, 40-75 feet depths just off the delta at the mouth of the river are very hot. We're getting 4-6 fish per hour on the right lure and presentation at those depths.
I'm running 7lb Ridgeback Rattlers for weights. This all-steel product is a highly productive downrigger weight because of its design features. Trolling speeds are best in the range of 1.7-2.0 mph.
Later in the summer, the trench becomes a hotspot where modest-sized trout feed on rising shrimp in the early evening. Most productive depths for that area at that time are 150-225ft. Electric high speed downriggers are a must. In a hot bite, two guys working their butts off might boat 25-30 fish in 90 minutes.
Wow! Nice lakers and great read there! It sucks that humans think they can screw around with natural ecosystems and not have any bad consequences. Don't fix something that's not broke!
I'll be looking forward to more pictures and posts from you, Piscator. I find this stuff very interesting.
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