Reservoir · Mixed · Montana

Georgetown Lake

Wide calm view of Georgetown Lake with forested hills in the Pintler region of Montana

Georgetown Lake sits high in the mountains between Anaconda and Philipsburg, a shallow, weedy, rich reservoir that grows fat rainbows and brook trout and fishes hard both summer and through the ice.

Fair · Rainbow
Callibaetis Nymph · 12-16
Fairlive now
Reasonable summer fishing likely at Georgetown Lake
Good wave on — drift country. A useful wave. Work the productive shore.
51% confidence
What moved it
  • WindS 8 km/hLight breeze
Today's fly
CN
Callibaetis Nymph12-16
High-confidence seasonal pick
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Wind
Light breeze
S 8 km/h
N
S
from the south
WaveRipple
Water temp—
Air temp20°C
CloudClear
Pressure1016 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

Some readings unavailable — check directly before fishing.

How to fish it · for Rainbow
When
Early summer damsel and Callibaetis; chironomid spring and autumn
Where
Start with Callibaetis Nymph (12-16) on a slow figure-of-eight retrieve. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely.
The plan
Plan A

Start with Callibaetis Nymph (12-16) on a slow figure-of-eight retrieve. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely.

Plan B

Fish early and late, try deeper during the heat of the day with a fast-sinking line.

Watch for

Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.

Either bank or boat

Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

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Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Gray DrakeHatch
2
2
CallibaetisHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Hexagenia (Western)Hatch
2
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Montana stillwater regulations — check FWP.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
66%
Cloud25%
Wind100%
Temp60%

A reasonable day here, though cloud isn't quite in the sweet spot.

Other water nearby · 1
Clark Fork
55 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Wide calm view of Georgetown Lake with forested hills in the Pintler region of Montana
    Georgetown Lake, Granite County, Montana
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Georgetown Lake sits high in the mountains between Anaconda and Philipsburg, a shallow, weedy, rich reservoir that grows fat rainbows and brook trout and fishes hard both summer and through the ice. It's a damsel, scud, and chironomid lake, classic stillwater country where you anchor over the weed beds and watch an indicator or hang a chironomid in the film. It can get crowded with boats on a summer weekend, but on a quiet morning with the Pintlers reflected in the calm, it's about as pretty a place to fish as Montana offers.

  • Reservoir
  • Mixed
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Supporting
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Georgetown Lake' (MT76E005_010), 2021 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Fully Supporting. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · MT76E005_010

Why this score
  • Wind conditions (ripple) closely match what this water fishes best in.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Big Stillwater Playbookreservoir tacticsReservoir Entomologymatching the hatchThermal Layers & Troutreading depth and temperature
Booking & contacts