Fishing Access Sites In MT Region 6

Fishing Access Sites In Region 6

By Robert Lucke

Fishing has been very good across Montana this spring and summer and from all indica­tions, will continue to be good through the fall.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has broken the state of Montana into six regions.  The towns of north central Mon­tana are all in region six, which stretches from the North Da­kota border west to just west of Fresno Dam, north to the Ca­nadian border and south to the Missouri with a tad more land located east and south of the Missouri in the Circle area of Montana.

Here is what Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has to say about this wildly diverse sec­tion of Montana fishing land.

“Region six provides Fish­ing Access Sites on very di­verse bodies of water with a large array of angling oppor­tu­nities.  Fishing Access Sites exist on both of the major river systems in the region:  the lower Missouri, which is the largest river system in Montana, and the Milk River, which is a prairie river origi­nating to the north in Canada. The Region also provides ac­cess to the state’s largest res­ervoir, Fort Peck Reservoir (240,000 sur­face acres).

The Fishing Ac­cess Sites in Re­gion six pro­vide the public with some of the best access to warm-water fish species such as walleye, northern pike, sauger, bass and yellow perch.  Additionally, the cold-water species that are avail­able include rainbow, cutthroat, brook, brown and lake trout as well.” 

Other than the glaring error about the origins of the Milk River (it actually starts in Gla­cier National Park, just north of the Cut Bank Valley), that is a fairly accurate statement about fishing conditions in this area.

Interesting also is the Fish, Wildlife and Parks commit­ment to keep warm water fishing east of the Con­tinental Divide only.  This leads to much conflict as some of the west of the divide fishing authorities see all the great walleye tournaments and want some of them for themselves.  Stay tuned for this ongoing saga of warm water fish intro­ductions into what are billed as the “pris­tine” waters of west­ern Mon­tana.

Some fishing access sites in northern Montana’s Region Six include Bear Paw Lake, 21 miles south of Havre on High­way 234; Bjornberg Bridge, sixteen miles east of Saco on Highway 2, then north on County Road; and Bridge Park, six miles south­east of Wolf Point on High­way 13.

There are also the Cote Ponds, ten miles northwest of Saco on Highway 243;

Culbertson bridge, three miles south of Culbertson on Highway 16; and Duck Creek, which is two miles northwest of Fort Peck on Duck Creek Bay of Fort Peck Reservoir.

Faber Reservoir, some 25 miles south of Chinook on Highway 240, remains popular; and there is the always-popu­lar Fresno tailwater some eleven miles west of Havre on High­way 2, then three miles south.

There are the Fort Peck Dredge Cut Ponds, five miles northeast of Fort Peck on Highway 117; Glasgow Air Force Base Pond, 20 miles north of Glasgow on Highway 24; and Kuester Reservoir five miles east of Richey on High­way 200.

Don’t forget Rock Creek, 30 miles south of Fort Peck on Highway 24, then seven miles west of a county road; and Whitetail Reservoir, seven miles north of Flaxville on Highway 511.

By no means is this an even partial list of popular fishing sites.  Some of the very best are on private land and can be accessed only by asking permission. (rarely de­nied) Of course, there is the ever-popular Beaver Creek Reservoir that may become a fishing access site but is not at this date.

Nevertheless, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has provided a wide range of sev­eral kinds of fishing access right here in the backyard of North Central Montana resi­dents.