Another reason why you need a boat

Calendar-wise, we should be right in the middle of the annual lake whitefish spawning run up the Flathead River. As of this writing, I’ve been whitefishing three times. Total of seven hours. Five bites. One fish.

And it’s a good thing for me that I caught that one fish because, as I left home that morning, my wife reminded me we haven’t eaten any fresh whitefish this fall.

Fresh whitefish fillets, covered with ranch dressing and baked over a bed of hash browns, has become a special fall treat at our house.

To learn how other whitefish anglers are faring, I called Chancy Jeschke at Snappy Sports Senter in Kalispell.

“It’s been a decent run this year,” Jeschke said, “especially since the river level has dropped. But the big problem this year is that last spring’s high water has changed the river and, in most cases, has really limited shoreline fishing.”

As an example, Jeschke pointed out that the shoreline on the east side of the Highway 35 bridge, east of Kalispell, has collapsed, so a boat is needed to effectively fish that area.

“Same for the Old Steel Bridge,” he said. “There’s a few small areas above and below the bridge on the east side to fish, but you really need a boat.”

Jeschke noted that boat fishermen are finding whitefish in a few holes upstream from Lybeck’s Dike and also in the Pressentine area between Columbia Falls and Kalispell.

So, after years of frustration because the lake whitefish aren’t schooling to eat perch in Flathead Lake, we’re now faced with just one more Flathead Valley fishing situation where “you gotta have a boat.”

What’s working for the lucky anglers that do find fish? Jeschke recommends green tubes and green crawdads by Pete’s Tackle in Kalispell. Also 1 1/2-inch Perch Slurpies by Northland Tackle.

“There’s quite a few small bull trout in the river now,” he said, “and some anglers are mistaking them for lake trout.”

Remember — no black on dorsal fin, put it back.