Lake Sa-ol-Sooth in Missoula County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Montana holds Lake Sa-ol-Sooth, in Missoula County. It sits in rolling bush. At about 46 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The bank runs about 1.1 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Supplies mean a trip to Bonner-West Riverside, 16 miles off. East Missoula lies 17 miles off, Frenchtown another 17 miles. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Lake Sa-ol-Sooth

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. 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. Open biodiversity records for Missoula County list rainbow trout, brook trout, cutthroat trout and northern pike. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. On Lake Sa-ol-Sooth the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 19°F in December to roughly 55°F in August. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The water is typically free of ice between early May and mid November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. That is the shape of the year on Lake Sa-ol-Sooth.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Crazy Fish Lake is 0.9 miles distant. Confirm access to Lake Sa-ol-Sooth locally before you travel.