Rainy Lake in Park County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Park County, Wyoming, this is Rainy Lake. This is mixed forest country. The whole thing is a single swim; walk it in a minute. On size it sits at the modest end of our Park County list. The closest town, West Yellowstone, is 38 miles distant. Beyond it, Livingston at 53 miles and Big Sky at 54 miles. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Rainy Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Park County, recorded fish include brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout and black-spotted cutthroat trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Rainy Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 14°F to 57°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Ice clears near early May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That is the shape of the year on Rainy Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. A parking area is marked roughly half a mile out. Somewhere to sit and eat is half a mile out. A toilet block sits half a mile away. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Lost Lake sits 1.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Where Rainy Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.