Fred Burr Lake in Granite County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Granite County, Montana, this is Fred Burr Lake. Everything around it is rolling bush. At about 149 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Around 2.1 miles of margin, front to back. Few waters listed in Granite County are bigger. For supplies, Anaconda is 16 miles out. It is 222 miles to Spokane, the nearest city. You are close to a county edge here; who manages the access can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Fred Burr Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. County-wide records name rainbow trout, brook trout and brown trout. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Read Fred Burr Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 18°F in December up to 53°F in August. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Look for the thaw near mid May; the fishing lifts straight after. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid May until roughly early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. At Fred Burr Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Little Fred Burr Lake, 0.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. What applies at Fred Burr Lake may have changed since it was mapped.