Fishing at Meadow Lake, Flathead County, Montana

• Overview

  Meadow Lake is set in Flathead County, Montana. Everything around it is pine and birch. This is a pocket water of some 17 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. A shoreline of some 1.1 miles keeps the choices simple. The nearest town is Whitefish, 14 miles away. Then Columbia Falls, 21 miles, and Evergreen, 26 miles. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Meadow Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Fish documented in Flathead County include rainbow trout, sockeye salmon, largemouth bass and brook trout. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Meadow Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 20°F to 62°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Break-up comes around early April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about early April until roughly late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Anyone fishing Meadow Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Lower Stillwater Lake sits 2.9 miles off and takes the overflow. Check the current arrangement for Meadow Lake.