Fishing at Disappointment Lake, Lake County, Montana

• Overview

  Disappointment Lake is listed under Lake County, Montana. The land about it is lake country bush. At 14 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Some 14 miles away sits Ronan, the nearest settlement. Spokane sits 167 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Disappointment Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Lake County include rainbow trout, sockeye salmon, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and largemouth bass. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Read Disappointment Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 54°F in August and bottoms out near 16°F in December. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Once it clears, about mid May, the fishing comes on quickly. The lid tends to go about mid May and return around early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Anyone fishing Disappointment Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. The water borders Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness, so expect the reserve rules to apply. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Cliff Lake, 0.4 miles away. Ask locally about Disappointment Lake if anything is unclear.