Fishing Season: Check Montana FWP regulations.

Georgetown Lake - MT

Fishing Outlook & Conditions

Water Temp:

48

Blackfoot River Outfitters's Tip of the Week

Early season trout on Georgetown love the warmth. Focus your efforts on shallow, muddy bays on the northern and western shores that have been baked by the sun all morning. Keep an eye on the wind as well wind pushes food across the lake, turning the windward shorelines and points into major feeding zones. Target the edges where shallow flats drop off into the deep green weed beds. ***Open third Saturday in May through March 31, except for the South and East shoreline area which is only open July 1 through March 31. South and East shoreline areas described as follows: all waters from the shore or within 100 yards of shore in the area extending from a point 200 yards west of Lakeside at Georgetown Marina (along the shore, including all of Stuart Mill Bay)***

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Map of Georgetown Lake

Orvis-Endorsed guides nearby

Blackfoot River Outfitters
Blue Damsel Lodge

5-Day Outlook as of 5/29/26

Up at Georgetown, cold and wet looks to be the weekend forecast. Highs will be in the 40’s with the possibility of rain and snow. Entering the beginning of the week it slowly starts to warm up into the 50s and the 60s.

Techniques & Tips as of 5/29/26

Indicator fishing is the way to go. Hang a balanced leech or a pair of chironomids under an indicator and let the natural ripple of the lake provide the action. If the wind starts kicking up too much of a chop, switch to an intermediate sinking line and pull a woolly bugger or a damselfly nymph slowly across the drop-offs.

Local Species Available Check Montana FWP regulations.

  • Fish Icon

    Rainbow and Brook Trout

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    Kokanee Salmon

Blackfoot River Outfitters's Recommended Fly Patterns

"Must-have" fly fishing patterns in descending order of importance:

Name: Colors: Size(s):
Bead Head Woolly Bugger Streamer N/A #6-12
Meg A Egg Sucking Leech N/A #8-14
Flashback Hares Ear Nymph N/A #14-18
TH Duracell Jig N/A #14-18
Zebra midge black/red, black/ 12-14
Egg Pattern Orange 12-14
Flashback Scud Wet Hare's Ear N/A #14-18
Adams 14
Balance leech olive 10-12
Jig Mini Bugger olive 12

Bead Head Woolly Bugger Streamer

Every angler needs an assortment of these weighted attractor Bead Head Woolly Bugger Streamer flies.

2.49

Item #0311

Buy Now

Blackfoot River Outfitters's Recommended Gear

Description: About Georgetown Lake

Georgetown Lake is Montana’s premier flatwater fishery. Rimmed by the Anaconda Mountains (aka Pintlers), it’s also among the state’s most beautiful. But the real attraction is rainbow trout in the 16"- 26" range. Yes, we said 26" rainbows. As if these giant rainbows weren’t enough – there are numbers of brook trout over 16” and many exceeding 20”! You don’t need to travel to Labrador to see fish like this – they live here - and plenty of them. The special regulations imposed now over a decade ago, continue to pay huge dividends. Much of the lake shore is closed to fishing before July 1st to maximize rainbows’ opportunity to grow well into maturity and you must return all brookies to the water immediately. As the water warms in June, these leviathans fresh off the spawn gorge themselves on damsel fly nymphs, leaches, crane fly larva, scuds and midge pupa. Pitch small buggers and leaches to single cruisers and across spring holes through the month. Later in July, continuing on into September, you can fish a nymph or streamer but try sight fishing to them in just inches to a few feet of water. If you’re a saltwater angler, it will remind you of polling the flats scanning for bones, but instead of them rooting out crabs they are toilet bowling dries on the surface. Blanketing damsel fly hatches, early morning callibaetis, gulping midge clusters and the giant olive sedge skating across the water just before dark are the occurrences you don’t want to miss! There is nothing else quite like it in Montana.

Nearest Airport:

Missoula International Airport (MSO)

Best Time to Fish:

Warmest Part of Day

Best Stretch:

Comers point, Rainbow Bay, Philipsburg Bay. Be sure to check FWP Fishing regulations for the SE shoreline closure.

Best Access:

Comers point, Rainbow Bay, Philipsburg Bay. Be sure to check FWP Fishing regulations for the SE shoreline closure.