Right now, it's all about ice fishing

Welcome to Howe’s Fishing — both a column title and a question.

The answer is yes, we are fishing and it’s quite good!

OK, a little play on words to begin with, so let me explain. My name is Mike Howe and according to Editor Frank Miele, it has been years since there has been a regular fishing column here and we both agree it’s time to change that. I will report here every other week, and rather than waste a bunch of space here with further introduction, you are welcome (and encouraged) to check out our website and get to know me a little better. Then the title will all make sense.

I often tell folks that while Montana is Spanish for “mountains,” for me our corner of the state is all about the water. With well over 500 fishable lakes, rivers and streams within a short drive of us here in the Flathead, a column dedicated to fishing is a good fit.

We fish year-round here in the Flathead, and right now it’s all about ice fishing. Local tournaments such as Snappy Sport Senter’s Family Fishing Derby, the Perch Pounder and our Perch Assault series help offer a competitive angle to our winter angling.

We just finished a week of hosting Tom Gruenwald from HT Enterprises as he filmed three episodes for his TV show, “Tom Gruenwald Outdoors,” on the Sportsman Channel.  These three episodes will air in the fall and we plan on a big viewing party here in the Flathead for the first one so stay tuned.

Tom also filmed our second Perch Assault event of the season at Upper Thompson. Congratulations to Wayne and Denise Schlegel who took top honors with their 3.67-pound, 10-perch entry. In our ninth season, we are considered the oldest continuous competitive ice fishing tournament in the country. That is quite a distinction considering we are on the fringe of the “ice belt” here in Montana. We finish up our season on March 8 at Lake Mary Ronan and there is still time to enter. Check out www.perchassault.com for info.

The third annual Montana Sportsmen’s Expo starts Friday at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. We travel to many sports shows and can honestly say this is one of the best-organized and fun expos we have been to.  

For those of you heading out onto the ice this weekend, you will find all of our local lakes in good condition. The recent cold snap helped firm things back up after the mid-month warm-up. We still have another month of good ice fishing left in the valley, so get out there and enjoy it!

The annual banquet put on by our Flathead Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited will be March 15. This is their single fundraising event of the year and is a must for anglers. They raise thousands of dollars that go right back into local fisheries and there are always great stories, great auctions/raffles and all-you-can-eat walleye. Call Mark Weed Auto for tickets or ask a Walleyes Unlimited member you know about tickets.

Mike Howe runs Howes Fishing/A Able Charters. For more information check out the website, www.howesfishing.com, or call 257-5214.