Gentlemen, going to the beartooth mountains in Montana for a scouting, camping, backpacking trip . Plan on trying to catch some trout for fun / food. The only trout fishing experience I have is catching cutthroats in Yellowstone lake when I was a kid . We used Mepps roostertail spinners and did well .
Will they work in the high mountain lakes ? Mostly rainbows and cuts higher up .Any advice , lure / fly reccomendations would be appreciated. Will be useing spinning gear .

Thanks,

Chris

Will likely work.
Bring some #10 hooks and small splitshot and forage around for some local bait if the artificials dont work. Grasshoppers, worms, grubs whatever you can find.

For flies try terrestials....ants, grasshopper imitation with a clear casting bubble.

Thanks CV. I've got some of those casting bubbles. Been reading up on trout fishing. Thank you for the input !

A fly and bubble on a spin rod is a good combination for the mountain lakes. A selection of both wet and dry flies like mosquitoes, caddis, Adams, Royal Coachman, woolly buggers, leeches, etc. have worked for me. With the Mepps and Roostertails you should be good.
I also always take a few small lead head marabou jigs in 1/16th and 1/32nd oz.

Great advice , thank you !

For fun, what's wrong with using a fly rod? For food, Power Bait on a hook.

Never run a fly rod . I know nothing !

Never run a fly rod . I know nothing !

Also try a Pistol Pete best size is 10, its a woolly worm with a small propeller. My favorite is a yellow one but peacock, black and red also work.

A fly that works very well with a bubble set up is a Renegade in size 14, 16 (best), or 18. It will sink just below the surface, retrieve it very slow then a little slower. Really works when the fish are rising early AM or late PM. I use a 5X leader behind the bubble about 3-4 ft long.

Another fly that can work behind the bubble is a size 16 red Humpy.

For a spinner can't beat Panther Martin (1/16 to 1/8), I prefer the black with gold blade and the yellow with orange spots and an orange blade.

For a spoon 1/16 to 1/8 gold Kastmaster.

Good luck on your trip.

This...exactly.


If you can't catch trout on a #2PMR-G or #2 PMR-S you need to stay home.


Headed out to do a weeks worth of fishing myself at month end.

Though I've been a fisherman all my life, it wasn't until 5 years ago, at age 71, that I tried fly fishing and caught my first fish on a fly--a 24" rainbow trout. This on a 5-weight rod.

I was going to suggest a renegade pattern too! The brookies in the beaver ponds love them.

Lucky for me I find most high mountain fish to be hungry for anything resembling the right size fly. My biggest challenge with them is presenting a fly without spooking them.

I have great luck with ultra light spinning gear and these lures

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks publishes a guide to the Beartooth Lakes (and Crazy Mountains Lakes). They update it every year. They list the lake, the stocking schedule (if they stock it), the species of fish , and their average size. Some lakes will have a few comments regarding camping sites, availability of firewood, etc. I don't know if I copied this link correctly:

http://fwp.mt.gov/fwpDoc.html?id=96048

If it doesn't work, just google "2020 mountain lakes guide" or just go to the Montana FWP site and look for it there.

See if this works: http://fwp.mt.gov/regions/r5/mountainlakes.html

Also keep in mind, if you are on the Beartooth Highway, most of the time you will be in Wyoming. You would have to hike some distance to the north of the road before you get into Montana.

If anyone knows if Wyoming has a similar guide for their part of the Beartooths, I'd like to know!

X2 on kastmaster or I like 1/16 oz little cleo spoon . blue/silver and the panther Martin

Thanks guys ! Looking forward to going !