Fishing at McKinley Lake, Missoula County, Montana

• Overview

  McKinley Lake belongs to Missoula County, Montana. This is lake country bush country. At 15 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. The nearest town is Bonner-West Riverside, 9.9 miles away. For a city, Spokane is 170 miles off. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on McKinley Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. County-wide records name rainbow trout, brook trout, cutthroat trout and northern pike. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. McKinley Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 56°F in August and bottom out at 19°F in December. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early May. The open-water window runs from around early May to about mid November in an average year. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. On McKinley Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. For a change of water, Roosevelt Lake is 0.3 miles distant. Check the position at McKinley Lake before loading the car.