Montana Offers More Than Trout

Although Montana is known primarily for its outstanding trout streams, the state also has thousands of lakes and reservoirs that provide good fishing. Among the favorites with Spokane area anglers are Lake Mary Ronan, Georgetown Lake and Koocanusa Reservoir.

Mary Ronan last year provided good fishing for kokanee and mediocre fishing for rainbow and cutthroat. The kokanee likely will be 10-14 inches long this year.

Mary Ronan is one of the few lakes in the Northwest where kokanee readily feed on mayfly nymphs.

The illegally introduced perch population in Mary Ronan exploded last year. Some anglers spent as much time fishing for perch as they did kokanee.

Early reports indicate that the kokanee in Koocanusa Reservoir will be larger on average than those of last year. Because the mature kokanee in the popular reservoir were on the small side last year, the long, narrow lake wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been the previous half dozen years.

Georgetown Lake holds trout and kokanee, although the fish aren’t trophy-sized.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Pike cropping up Illegally introduced northern pike are cropping up in Montana fisheries. In the Missoula region alone, pike have been documented in five new lakes in the past two years.