Fritter Lake, Montana: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Fritter Lake lies within the bounds of Park County, Montana. The setting is lake country bush on every side. This is a pocket water of some 10 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. It is high ground by Montana standards. Red Lodge sits 25 miles from the bank. Absarokee lies 36 miles off, Cody another 47 miles. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Fritter Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Across Park County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, brook trout, california golden trout and brown trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Fish Fritter Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 49°F in August and bottoms out near 14°F in January. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early June. Open water usually runs from early June until about early November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. The season on Fritter Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, Anvil Lake at 0.2 miles is the nearest alternative. Where Fritter Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.