Fishing Frenco Lake in Stillwater County, Montana

• Overview

  Frenco Lake is a Stillwater County water, Montana side. It lies 9,111 feet above sea level. At 17 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Absarokee is the closest place, 30 miles off. For a city, Billings is 78 miles off. Not far off: Beckwourth Lake within 0.6 miles, Brown Lake after 0.6 miles, Nugget Lake within 0.7 miles, Memidgi Lake after 1.2 miles and Silver Lake within 1.5 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Frenco Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Records held for Stillwater County cover rainbow trout, california golden trout and brown trout. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. At Frenco Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put August near 49°F and January near 14°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Look for the thaw near early June; the fishing lifts straight after. Break-up sits around early June on average, with the water closing again about early November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. On Frenco Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Beckwourth Lake at 0.6 miles is the sensible second choice. Confirm before you fish Frenco Lake.