Totem Peak Lake Fishing Guide, Ravalli County, Montana

• Overview

  The Ravalli County end of Montana holds Totem Peak Lake. The bank is 7,789 feet above sea level. At roughly 9 acres, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. Hamilton sits 14 miles from here and is the nearest stop. The big place round here is Spokane, 168 miles distant. Water in the same corner: North Totem Lake 0.7 miles away, South Bear Lake after 1.1 miles, Two Lakes 2.1 miles away, Garnet Lake after 2.8 miles and Bryan Lake 3 miles away. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Totem Peak Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Records held for Ravalli County cover rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and brook trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Totem Peak Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 18°F in December to roughly 55°F in August. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Winter locks it down, and early May brings it back. The lid tends to go about early May and return around mid November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. That is the shape of the year on Totem Peak Lake.

• 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. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. North Totem Lake, 0.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Signs at Totem Peak Lake carry more weight than any list.