A Montana license runs to the end of February, so this season's covers the whole winter. Lakes and reservoirs are open all year, but rivers and streams in the Western District close after November 30 unless an exception keeps them open, while those in the Central and Eastern districts stay open. Any walleye caught in the Western District must be killed and reported.
What to fish for in early November
Montana winters on its reservoirs and below its dams: perch and walleye through the ice from Canyon Ferry to Fort Peck, the valley lakes of the northwest for perch and pike, and trout on the Missouri and the Bighorn, where the releases keep the river open. Most of the western rivers rest after November, though the big rivers around Missoula stay open for whitefish and catch-and-release trout.
These notes cover the whole winter, the ice included. In early November, Canyon Ferry Reservoir, Flathead Lake and Fort Peck Reservoir are usually still open water, at 48 to 53F.
Yellow Perch
Schools tight under the ice and bites through the day, the steadiest action of a Montana ice season.
Where. Canyon Ferry, Lake Helena and Hauser, and the valley lakes around Kalispell and Whitefish.
The yellow perch waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Canyon Ferry Reservoir about 52F Best Sat, Nov 7, A+Today's forecast Walleye
Slides up onto shallower flats toward dusk and holds deep through the bright hours.
Where. Canyon Ferry, Fort Peck and Tiber.
The walleye waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Fort Peck Reservoir about 48F Best Sun, Nov 8, AToday's forecast Rainbow Trout
Sips midges and small nymphs in the steady flows below the dams all winter, with the browns feeding beside them.
Where. The Missouri below Holter Dam, the Bighorn below Yellowtail, and the Madison below Hebgen.
The rainbow trout waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Missouri River below Holter Dam about 49F Best Wed, Nov 11, A+Today's forecast Madison River at Ennis not modeled Best Thu, Nov 12, A+Today's forecast Northern Pike
Hunts the weedy bays under first ice, often the biggest fish through a hole all season.
Where. Fort Peck's bays and coulees and the weedy lakes of the Flathead Valley.
Brook Trout
Comes through the ice with the rainbows on the mountain lakes, often close to shore and in shallow water.
Where. Georgetown Lake near Anaconda and the other high lakes of the west.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
The next six weeks of this report's calendar for Montana.
- Mon November 30Last day on the rivers and streams of Montana's Western District, unless an exception keeps one open; they reopen on the third Saturday in May.
Every date for Montana from November to February (2)
- Mon November 30Last day on the rivers and streams of Montana's Western District, unless an exception keeps one open; they reopen on the third Saturday in May.
- Sun February 28Montana licenses expire at the end of the day, and the new license year begins on March 1.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Montana Outdoor is the state's winter reporter: a free site that posted 248 fishing reports from November to February last winter, among them ice updates with thicknesses, river reports from the shops and Don Wilkins' weekly Fort Peck report. FWP publishes no weekly report and sends anglers to its offices and local shops for ice.
Where to fish in Montana, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
Fort Peck Reservoir
Fort Peck Reservoir · Fort Peck Dam tailwater · Missouri River
The great reservoir the Missouri backs up behind Fort Peck Dam across the prairie of northeastern Montana, more than a hundred miles of open water and side coulees cut into badlands, holding walleye, northern pike, lake trout, sauger and salmon, with much of its shore far from any paved road.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor ran Don Wilkins' weekly report twelve times between November and February last winter, and FWP publishes no report of its own.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A9 good hours49F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h
Canyon Ferry and the Helena reservoirs
Canyon Ferry Reservoir · Hauser Reservoir · Lake Helena · Holter Reservoir · Missouri River below Holter Dam
The chain of dams the Missouri runs through between Townsend and Wolf Creek: Canyon Ferry, Hauser with Lake Helena off its side, and Holter, then the famous trout river below Holter Dam. Perch, walleye and rainbow trout in the reservoirs, rainbows and browns in the river.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor reposts the area's ice updates, with thicknesses, and its fly shops' river reports through the winter. FWP sends anglers to its Helena office and the local sport shops for ice conditions.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sat, Nov 7, A+9 good hours52F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 9h
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, A+13 good hours51F measured Nov 3 at Missouri River bl Holter Dam nr Wolf Cr MTbest run 13h2800 cfsat Missouri River bl Holter Dam nr Wolf Cr MTon this water
The Madison and Hebgen Lake
Madison River · Hebgen Lake · Quake Lake · Ennis Lake · Lower Madison River
The Madison from Hebgen Dam near West Yellowstone down through Quake Lake and the long valley to Ennis Lake, then the lower river through Bear Trap Canyon toward Three Forks, wild rainbow and brown trout water, with Hebgen Lake above the dams fished through the ice.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor printed Hebgen ice reports from December 1 to mid-January last winter, two of them Garrett Ostler's, and reports on the upper and lower river in November, December, January and February.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 12, A+12 good hours47F measured Nov 3 at Madison River at Ennis, MTbest run 12h926 cfsat Madison River at Ennis, MTon this water
The Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River · Paradise Valley spring creeks
The Yellowstone from where it leaves the park at Gardiner, north through Paradise Valley to Livingston and east past Big Timber, a big trout river of cutthroat, rainbows and browns, with the private spring creeks of Paradise Valley, fished for a fee, beside it.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor printed nine reports on the river and the creeks from November 10 to February 23 last winter, most of them from Livingston, though none in January.
Engine outlook
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, B+8 good hours49F measured Nov 3 at Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs MTbest run 3h1140 cfsat Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs MTon this water
The Bighorn River
Bighorn River · Bighorn Lake
The tailwater below Yellowtail Dam at Fort Smith, on the Crow Reservation, where water released from Bighorn Lake keeps the river open and its brown and rainbow trout feeding through the cold months, most of it fished from drift boats between the Afterbay and the access sites downstream.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor printed five reports on the river between December 9 and February 1 last winter. The Fort Smith shops posted less on their own sites: Bighorn Angler's last report was on December 9, and the Bighorn Trout Shop posted one winter update, on February 7.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 16, A+12 good hours54F measured Nov 3 at Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MTbest run 7h1750 cfsat Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MTon this water
Missoula's rivers and Georgetown Lake
Clark Fork · Bitterroot River · Blackfoot River · Rock Creek · Georgetown Lake
The rivers that meet around Missoula: the Clark Fork, the Bitterroot running north to it up its valley, the Blackfoot from the east and Rock Creek upstream, all trout rivers, with Georgetown Lake in the mountains near Anaconda fished through the ice for rainbows and brook trout.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor printed three ice reports from the lake in January, reports on the Clark Fork in November and February, and one on the Bitterroot at the end of February. From December 1 the moving water is under the extended season set out in Montana's rules.
Engine outlook
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, B8 good hours43F measured Nov 3 at Clark Fork above Missoula MTbest run 5h1690 cfsat Clark Fork above Missoula MTon this water
Flathead Lake and the northwest
Flathead Lake · Whitefish Lake · Little Bitterroot Lake · Lake Koocanusa · Kootenai River
The lakes of the Flathead Valley around Kalispell and Whitefish, Flathead Lake itself with its lake trout and the smaller valley lakes that freeze for perch and pike, and to the west Lake Koocanusa behind Libby Dam with the Kootenai River below it.
Who reports here. Montana Outdoor printed fourteen reports from the Flathead Valley and the Kootenai between December 21 and February 27 last winter, many of them giving ice thickness lake by lake.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
The rules from November to February
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- A license runs from March 1 to the end of February, so this year's covers the whole winter. Most anglers need a conservation license, a base fishing license and the Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Pass. Residents pay $8, $21 and $2 for the season ($4 and $10.50 for the first two at 12 to 17 or 62 and older), or $5 for a two-day license in place of the season one; nonresidents $10, $100 and $7.50, or $14 for one day or $56 for five. Anyone 11 or younger needs none of them.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- On rivers and streams, one line with two hooks in the Western and Central districts, six lines with six hooks in the Eastern. On lakes, two lines with two hooks. Through the ice, two lines with two hooks in the Western and Central districts and six in the Eastern, each in sight but not necessarily in hand. No live fish may be used as bait in the Western District, nor in the Central except on listed waters, and no live bait may be let go into any water.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Montana is three fishing districts, each with standard rules and a list of exceptions by water that replace them; look up the water before fishing it. Lakes and reservoirs are open all year in all three. Rivers and streams in the Western District close on November 30 until the third Saturday in May unless an exception keeps them open; in the Central and Eastern districts they are open all year.
- The big rivers around Missoula stay open after November 30 under an extended season to the third Saturday in May: open for whitefish, and for northern pike on the Bitterroot and the Clark Fork, and catch and release for trout, with artificial lures and maggots the only bait (aquatic insects too on the Bitterroot). It covers the whole Bitterroot with its East and West forks, the Clark Fork from Perkins Lane Bridge near Warm Springs to the mouth of the Flathead, the Blackfoot mainstem, whose tributaries close, and Rock Creek near Missoula.
- Standard trout limits: on lakes, five a day in all three districts (in the Western District only one over 22 inches); on rivers and streams, three a day in the Western District (one over 14 inches) and the Central (one over 18 inches), five in the Eastern. Northern pike are 15 a day in the Western District and 10 in the Central; walleye and sauger five a day in the Central and Eastern. Any walleye caught in the Western District must be killed, kept, reported within 24 hours and brought to FWP. Bull trout may not be fished for in the Western District.
Through the ice
- No ice hole may be wider than 12 inches (144 square inches) except where spearing is open. Shelters stay free of trash, and come off before they become irretrievable at the end of the season or within five days of an FWP notice. Some waters require removal every day: Browns, Echo and Georgetown lakes in the Western District; Fitzpatrick Lake, Deadmans Basin and the Helena Valley Regulating Reservoir in the Central. In the Eastern District a shelter may stay after March 1 only if it is occupied overnight or removed daily, and eight listed waters require it off by March 1. Northern pike may be speared through the ice in the Western District.
- FWP says no ice is totally safe and river ice should never be walked on. Its minimums for clear ice: 4 inches on foot, 7 for a snowmobile or ATV, 10 for a small car (not recommended). Drill a test hole, fish with a friend, and stay clear of pressure ridges and big cracks.
Read on these agency pages: Montana FWP: Fishing License Basics, Montana FWP: 2026 Montana Fishing Regulations (PDF), Montana FWP: Ice Fishing Safety.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon Ferry Reservoir | 53F | 43F | 38F | 35F | 35F |
| Flathead Lake | 54F | 44F | 40F | 37F | 36F |
| Fort Peck Reservoir | 49F | 38F | 37F | 36F | 35F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clark Fork above MissoulaClark Fork above Missoula MT, 1977 to 2026 | 41F | 33F | 33F | 33F | 36F |
| Missouri River below Holter DamMissouri River bl Holter Dam nr Wolf Cr MT, 2000 to 2026 | 50F | 40F | 35F | 34F | 35F |
| Yellowstone River at Corwin SpringsYellowstone River at Corwin Springs MT, 2001 to 2026 | 42F | 35F | 34F | 35F | 36F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Peck Reservoirat Fort Peck Reservoir | 8h 24m, Dec 21 | 4:17pm, around Dec 11 | 7:57am, around Jan 1 |
| Canyon Ferry and the Helena reservoirsat Canyon Ferry Reservoir | 8h 34m, Dec 21 | 4:40pm, around Dec 11 | 8:11am, around Jan 1 |
| The Madison and Hebgen Lakeat Madison River at Ennis | 8h 43m, Dec 21 | 4:45pm, around Dec 10 | 8:08am, around Jan 2 |
| The Yellowstone Riverat Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs | 8h 45m, Dec 21 | 4:43pm, around Dec 10 | 8:03am, around Jan 2 |
| The Bighorn Riverat Bighorn River at St. Xavier | 8h 42m, Dec 21 | 4:29pm, around Dec 10 | 7:52am, around Jan 1 |
| Missoula's rivers and Georgetown Lakeat Clark Fork above Missoula | 8h 31m, Dec 21 | 4:48pm, around Dec 11 | 8:22am, around Jan 1 |
| Flathead Lake and the northwestat Flathead Lake | 8h 23m, Dec 21 | 4:45pm, around Dec 11 | 8:27am, around Jan 1 |