Blackfoot Reservation Lakes - Toby Tabor
Tonight Toby Tiber from the Blackfoot Reservation delivered a presentation to the Missouri River Fly fishers in a free public meeting all about the state of the fisheries on the different lakes available on the reservation. These lakes include known names in the area such as Duck, Mission, Kip, Fourhorn, Mitton, Dog Gun, Cooper, Goose, and Hidden Lakes. Over the past years 26 lakes have been stocked and 17 lakes are still stocked on a regular basis. Most of these lakes contains rainbows, browns, and cutthroat, and three of the lakes have even been stocked with Grayling. There are a number of streams on the reservation that hold trout as well.
The prime fishing season on the reservation is considered to be April and May, however some of the largest fish of the season are caught in September and October, and there are way less crowds in the fall. According to Toby the ideal rod on the reservation is a 7 weight to handle the wind, as well as consistently large fish with lots of fish caught in the 6-10lb and greater size. Intermediate lines have become very popular as well as just a basic weight forward floating line. 10-12lb test is necessary due to the size of the fish and the amount of weeds in the summer. Wind is by far the worst issue (if you check the weather before you leave and it is more than 20mph you may want to tie flies that day), and in the spring and fall it can be pretty cold as well. Camping is permitted almost everywhere around the lakes except where there is private land, and Duck Lake does have a considerable amount of private land.
The Milk River on the reservation also has a native fish initiative based on preserving a very healthy bull trout fishery.
Another interesting point Toby made was that Lake Fourhorn may be the best kept walleye secret in Montana with 8-12 lb walleyes are common on the lake.
As far as regulations go on the reservation, 2 fish (rainbows) can be kept over 20 inches and 5 fish total. Fishing hours that are allowed are 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. A new addition to the rules this year is that hooks must be a 2/0 size or smaller to try to limit any snagging that may be taking place on the reservation.
There were a few secrets revealed by Toby as well. However you will have to go up and fish for yourself to learn more. Toby also said he is very willing to come back and speak next year, and we can't wait to have him back.
What's a good fly to fish? The Balanced Blood Leech is designed to fish under an indicator. It is a great early season "Ice Out" fly choice in a popular Stillwater color scheme. Suspend the Balanced Blood Leech at the depth fish are traveling, often 3 to 5’ deep.
Find a traveling lane where fish are moving and cast upwind. If it is windy, just let your leech travel/swim/drift along downwind. In calmer weather, retrieve slowly with frequent pauses. Let the fly do the work. It will call them in.
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