Bozeman Lake Fly Fishing Season

Lake fishing – with a fly – is one thing that has never been able to hold my attention for more than an hour or two. I like moving water, changing directions, shelves, riffles, runs, and so on. The challenge of fishing new water every cast in a big, western river is kind of “my thing.” A couple of friends used to take me out to a local lake when I really started to get into fly fishing about 25 years ago. Although it was fun at the time, I was honestly never very interested in the whole thing. However, a new boat last year and a love for streamer fishing has started to change the way I think about fly fishing on lakes.

The best part of fly-fishing is that every moment is different than the one before. It never gets old and can never be perfected. Water changes, weather changes, fish change, bugs change and skills change too. Goals change for the angler too, and in the end, that probably is what this is really all about anyway.

For me, this lake fly-fishing is starting to get interesting once again. There are a lot of different ways to fly fish a lake, and this is a great time of the year to get out there and try them all. The rivers are high and dirty and the ones that aren’t…are too busy for me anymore.

So, although I can’t quite bring myself to fishing Chironomids under an indicator yet, I have a much deeper appreciation for those that do. I feel a little bit better about the world when I’m sharing the water with the quiet guys in the belly boats than the jibber jabber of a big tailwater. There are a ton of lakes out there in Southwest Montana, go fish one! Visit us at out Bozeman fly shop before you head out next time for the area’s best lake fly selection and some helpful advice.