Try Brown's Lake for rainbow trout

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional opening of summer camping and fishing season for Western Montana. So last weekend, regardless of the dire weather forecast, my wife and I headed to Brown's Lake in the Blackfoot Valley.

Unfortunately, the weatherman's prediction was correct. When we arrived at Brown's Lake, the wind was blowing, dark clouds covered the sky, it was spitting rain and the temperature was only in the high 40s.

It wasn't surprising there was no lineup of boats waiting to launch. There were only a couple of other crazy fishermen on the lake.

Brown's Lake is a 500-acre lake in the sagebrush prairie near Ovando. It is a shallow lake with a maximum depth of only 23 feet. It has a dandy forage base of fresh-water shrimp.

A steady diet of shrimp produces fat rainbow trout with deep, pink meat. They are delicious eating, especially when grilled.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks maintains a fishing access site and campground on a peninsula at the south end of Brown's Lake. It has good gravel and a concrete boat ramp, one outhouse and a few picnic tables. But it is very adequate since most fishermen have motor homes or self-contained campers.

If you like to tow a boat behind your motor home, you can easily launch your boat on this gently sloping ramp.

Boat launching is free because this is a fishing access site purchased and maintained with money from your fishing-license dollars. There is a small fee for overnight camping.

Brown's Lake doesn't have any major inlets or outlets for natural spawning, so fish stocking is necessary. This is a good example of creating a great fishery by a plant, grow and catch fish management program. These are your license dollars at work improving fishing.

The cool weather seemed to put the rainbows right on the bottom in 15 to 20 feet of water. So we fished the bottom with leaded core line. I use a very long, 30- to 35-foot, 6- or 8-pound mono leader due to water clarity. This length of a leader tends to belly up somewhat.

As usual, the lure that caught most of the fish was a small chartreuse or green colored Triple-teaser with a red head. This little lure is only an inch long. I troll this lure without any bait, although sometimes I apply a scent attractant.

Brown's Lake rainbows are super fat and scrappy. Most fish will run 1 1/2 to 2 pounds and love to dance on the water. It's great fun to catch these guys on light tackle.

Fishing was neither slow nor fast, just decent. We caught about four fish per hour. My wife had the big fish of the day up to boat, when my sloppy netting knocked the fish off her lure. It was a pure accident, but I'll be reminded of that miscue for many years.

She lost another nice fish when her line snapped under the strain of a dandy strike.

One of the attractions of Brown's Lake is wildlife watching. This prairie lake teems with a wide variety of spring wetland bird life. Binoculars are a must-take addition to your camping gear.

There were several pairs of geese tending to their fluffy, yellow goslings. I always enjoy seeing the brightly colored yellow-headed blackbirds.

I think Brown's Lake is one of the best rainbow lakes in Western Montana. So if you want to try a new lake, give Brown's Lake a try.

Here's a little fishing brain twister. While fishing with your grandson, you find that he has left a 10-pound granite rock in your boat. So you toss this rock over the side and it sinks to the bottom. By tossing the rock out of the boat and into the lake, does the lake level go up, go down or stay the same?

If you can't wait two weeks for the answer, give me a call at 257-5703. Have fun!