Sunset Lake Fishing Guide, Missoula County, Montana

• Overview

  Sunset Lake is a Missoula County water, Montana side. The land about it is lake country bush. At 2 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Our Missoula County list holds plenty of bigger water. Supplies mean a trip to Seeley Lake, 14 miles off. Spokane is the closest city, 173 miles away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Sunset Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Species logged across Missoula County include rainbow trout, brook trout and cutthroat trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Sunset Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put August near 57°F and December near 18°F. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early May. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Sunset Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. The nearest alternative is Summit Lake, 1.3 miles out. Ask locally about Sunset Lake if anything is unclear.