Wood Lake in Stillwater County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Wood Lake is one of the Stillwater County waters in Montana. It lies 9,613 feet above sea level. Small at around 10 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is high ground by Montana standards. Start from Absarokee, 25 miles down the road. Red Lodge lies 29 miles off, Columbus another 38 miles. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Wood Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Across Stillwater County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, california golden trout, brown trout, brook trout and black crappie. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. Take Wood Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 18°F to 51°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late May. Average temperatures cross freezing around late May in spring and again near early November in autumn. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. Anyone fishing Wood Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. If the gate is shut, Lake Wildness at 0.4 miles is the nearest alternative. Check the current arrangement for Wood Lake.