Flathead Lake fishing guide

Public access & launches

Public bank access at several points along Flathead Lake, computed from public land ownership and hydrography.

• WalstadMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• SomersMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• Woods BayMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• DucharmeMontana FWP
  Boat launch
• ConclowMontana FWP
  Fishing access

Regulations

• All species

  A tribal permit is required to fish on waters within the boundary of the Reservation. Call tribal headquarters at 406-675-2700 for information.

• Western Fishing District

  Catch-and-release for Cutthroat Trout. Lake Trout: 100 daily and in possession, only 1 over 36 inches, and all fish 30 to 36 inches must be released. Lake Whitefish: 100 daily and in possession. Yellow Perch: no limit, only 10 daily over 10 inches. No possession limit. NOTE: A Flathead Indian Reservation Tribal Permit is required to fish on the southern portion of the lake. Check Tribal Fishingregulations for the south portion of the lake.

• Cutthroat trout

  Bag

  Catch-and-release

  Catch-and-release for cutthroat trout.

• Lake trout

  Bag

  100 daily and in possession, only 1 over 36 inches, and all fish 30 to 36 inches must be released.

  Size

  only 1 over 36 inches; fish 30 to 36 inches must be released

  Lake trout: 100 daily and in possession, only 1 over 36 inches, and all fish 30 to 36 inches must be released.

• Yellow perch

  Bag

  no limit, only 10 daily over 10 inches. No possession limit.

  Size

  10 daily over 10 inches

  Yellow perch: no limit, only 10 daily over 10 inches. No possession limit. NOTE: A Flathead Indian Reservation Tribal Permit is required to fish on the southern portion of the lake. Check Tribal Fishing regulations for the south portion of the lake.

• All species

  Once off the water, fish may be dressed, filleted, and skin removed for transport to permanent residence, unless size limits apply: all fish can be counted and identified; two fillets counted as one fish; frozen catch must be packaged so it can be counted. Salmonids (trout, salmon, arctic grayling, char and whitefish): entire skin must remain attached to the fillet for identification.

• All species

  Handling and Transporting Legally Taken Fish: While fishing or on the water/ice, all fish in possession must be visibly identifiable to species. Unless size limits apply, fish may be cleaned prior to transport so long as the entire skin remains attached to the fish or fillet for identification. Two fillets will be counted as one fish. If frozen prior to transport, each fish or fillet must be packaged so it can be counted. Consumption of fish on the ice or water is allowed but counts toward daily limit.

• All species

  Float Fishing: When a water is closed to Float Fishing, an angler may not fish from a boat or vessel, and may not wade fish in the river or stream, or from the bank or shoreline of the river or stream, when fishing access is gained by boat or vessel.

• All species

  Methods of Taking Fish: Spears and bows are counted as lines for determining line limits. When multiple lines are allowed, the number of lines shall not exceed the combination of attended lines, setlines, or spears. All unattended fishing devices (crayfish traps, minnow traps, fish traps, setlines, etc.) must have the angler's name and phone number or name and individual identifying number issued by the department attached.

• All species

  Fishing Methods: Fish may be taken only by hook and line or other approved methods. Regulations for the taking of fish are listed in the standard regulations for each fishing district (see pages 23, 50 & 79).

As of 2026-08-28.Guidance, not legal advice — always confirm current rules with the state.Official Montana regulations

What’s in it

Recorded in/near this water. Occurrence-based unless a higher-confidence source is shown — see it per-species in the app.

More Montana fishing

Montana field notes

Bozeman, MT

Bozeman Built a Trail System Out of Handshakes and Easements

Nearly 100 miles of trail start inside Bozeman and run to the mountains, and most of it exists because a land trust spent thirty-five years negotiating easements across private ranchland one landowner at a time. The M and Drinking Horse are the famous pair. The system behind them is the actual story.

Missoula, MT

Missoula Hikes You Can Walk To From Downtown

A university town of 78,000 people sits where five valleys meet, with a mountain rising straight off the campus and a 61,000-acre wilderness up the road behind the houses. The famous hike takes forty minutes and most of the town has done it drunk at least once.

West Glacier, MT

The Highline Trail's Hand Cable Is the Least Frightening Part

Every photograph of this trail shows the same thing: a narrow ledge, a garden hose of steel cable bolted to the rock, and a very long way down. In practice that section takes four minutes and the tread is excellent. The parts worth thinking about come later: the shuttle you must book, the parking cap, and the grizzlies.

Babb, MT

Grinnell Glacier Before It's Gone: The Boat Shortcut, the Bears, and the Best Light

A trail cut into a cliff above two turquoise lakes, ending at a glacier that has been measured shrinking for a century. There is a boat that removes 3.4 miles of it, a mid-July opening date that catches people out, and enough grizzly activity that bear spray is standard equipment rather than a precaution.

West Yellowstone, MT

Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park: Cutthroat in the Meadows, Wolves on the Ridge, and the Strangest Trout Stream on Earth

Yellowstone holds the largest concentration of wild cutthroat trout in the world, a river that flows past erupting geysers, and backcountry meadow streams where you fish with bison grazing behind you and wolves howling at dusk. It's not just fly fishing. It's fly fishing inside the world's first national park.

West Glacier, MT

Fly Fishing Glacier National Park: Native Cutthroat, Wild Rivers, and Backcountry Water That Hasn't Changed in a Thousand Years

Glacier National Park holds 700 miles of streams and over 130 named lakes, most of them holding native westslope cutthroat trout that have never seen a hatchery. The fishing is wild, the setting is the most dramatic in North America, and the native fish are counting on you to handle them with care.

Flathead Lake fishing — FAQ