Fishing at Emerald Lake, Carbon County, Montana

• Overview

  Emerald Lake is set in Carbon County, Montana. Elevation runs to 9,721 feet. At about 43 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. A shoreline of some 1.0 miles keeps the choices simple. Size puts it in the front rank of our Carbon County list. Start from Red Lodge, 19 miles down the road. Billings sits 74 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Emerald Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Reported across Carbon County: rainbow trout, brook trout, sauger, walleye and channel catfish. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Emerald Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give August about 49°F and January about 14°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early June. Break-up near early June, freeze-up near early November: that is the shape of an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Emerald Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Expect a half a mile walk in from where the car goes. Mapping records toilets within half a mile. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Little Glacier Lake, 0.4 miles away. What applies at Emerald Lake may have changed since it was mapped.