Fishing Report For Lake McDonald, MT

By Rick Seaman

June 16, 2025

Popular Fish Species Reports
Lake McDonald Fishing Video
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Fishing Report Lake McDonald, MT

Fishing Reports

Popular Fish Species Lake McDonald, MT

Cutthroat Trout

Current Report: Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

Westslope Cutthroat Trout are popular here, and are a favorite of both fly fishing enthusiasts and spinning gear anglers. The diet of these cutthroat trout consists of insects, small fishes and crustaceans. Locals report the need to match the hatch with dry flies or streamers when fly fishing, or use small spinners, imitating minnows, to tempt them into biting. Year round, including while ice fishing, small jigging spoons are also delivering some nice cutthroats.

Kokanee Salmon

Current Report: Good To Very Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

Water temperatures are in the 50's and the kokanee have been shallow for several weeks now. As water warms, they move deeper, in search of cooler water. Downriggers or leaded line are the two primary methods for catching kokanee here, while trolling. Kokanee school up and hang out over deep water, usually above some type of structure. The ideal water temperature is mid to low 50's, identify the depth for that range, and the kokanee will be hanging around. Worm harnesses with prepared baits and wedding ring spinner setups are popular when trolled behind a 4" dodger. Locals are tipping these baits with shoepeg corn, PowerBait, or Z-Man Scented ShrimpZ to help attract bites. Experiment with depth, starting around 20'. They often cruise around in as much as 60'. Trolling these baits between 1.2 mph and 1.8 mph is a good speed for these kokes.

Rainbow Trout

Current Report: Good
Outlook: Good

Rainbows here migrate up and down the water column, more and more as Summer warms the water. Currently, rainbows are being caught in 10 to 15 feet of water early in the day. Come mid day, especially on warm days, they drop down to 50 or 60 feet, sometimes deeper. The diet of a rainbow trout consists of insects, small fishes and crustaceans. Use flies or small lures, imitating their natural food, to tempt them into biting. Small spinners, miniature crankbaits and swimbaits are catching rainbows, as are salmon eggs and prepared baits.

Fishing Video

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, lake trout and kokanee salmon at Lake McDonald in Montana.

Lake McDonald is a 6,800-acre lake with 22 miles of shoreline. This cold, clear water of Lake McDonald is home to trout and salmon. While there are no easy access areas for fishing from the bank, the majority of the lake can be fished from shore when water levels are down.

Primary fish species to catch

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

Today's Weather & Forecast

Fishing Boat Rentals

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Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

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Fishing License

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Map - Fishing & Access

Rick Seaman is a fishing enthusiast with over five decades of fishing experience, a retired tournament fisherman, author of numerous published articles on fishing, and co-author of the book "Bass Fishing - It's not WHAT you throw, It's WHERE you throw it".