Twin Outlets Lake in Carbon County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Carbon County, Twin Outlets Lake is a Montana water. The bank is 9,177 feet above sea level. Small at around 16 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Red Lodge at 25 miles is the nearest place to stop. Absarokee lies 32 miles off, Columbus another 43 miles. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Twin Outlets Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. County-wide records name rainbow trout, brook trout, sauger and walleye. The county list is broader than any single water. Fish Twin Outlets Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 47°F in August and bottoms out near 13°F in January. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Count the season from break-up, usually mid June. The water is typically free of ice between mid June and late October. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. At Twin Outlets Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Dewey Lake sits 0.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Nothing here settles the position at Twin Outlets Lake for certain.