Fishing in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park sits in the northern Rockies of Montana, straddling the Continental Divide, and holds more than 700 lakes along with a dense network of cold streams and rivers draining to both sides of the divide.

The water here is glacially cold and largely undisturbed — the kind of place where the fishery reflects what the landscape has been doing for thousands of years, not what hatchery trucks have been doing for the last few decades.

The park stopped stocking fish in 1971, and the management focus since has been on protecting native species in intact aquatic habitat. The fish that matter most here are westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout, both native to the west side of the park.

Bull trout are federally listed as threatened — any caught must be released immediately, handled with wet hands, and kept in the water as much as possible.

Lake trout, rainbow trout, brook trout, and Arctic grayling are also present, though most non-native species arrived through introductions during the early 1900s.

Lake trout, historically native only to waters draining to Hudson Bay on the east side, spread to most of the large west-side lakes through migration from the lower Flathead system. Lake fishing is open year-round inside the park.

The accessible roadside lakes tend to fish slowly — high altitude, cold water, and sparse aquatic vegetation don't grow big fish fast.

The backcountry lakes require hiking, sometimes at significant elevation, but they hold native cutthroat in water that sees very little pressure.

Bowman Lake, on the remote northwest side, is reachable by a long dirt road and holds westslope cutthroat and lake trout.

Kintla Lake, further up that same corridor, is another option — though Kintla Creek between Kintla and Upper Kintla Lake is closed, as is Upper Kintla Lake itself.

Two Medicine Lake on the southeast side falls under Blackfeet Nation jurisdiction for seasons and limits; check tribal regulations before fishing there. Waterton Lake, which straddles the U. S.

-Canada border, follows Parks Canada seasons and limits on the Canadian side. No Montana state fishing license is required inside park boundaries — one of the few places in the state where that's true.

Boundary waters are different: the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, for example, requires a Montana license. Pick up current park regulations at any visitor center or ranger station before you go.

Felt-soled wading boots are prohibited to prevent the spread of invasive species; rubber soles only. A long list of waters are closed entirely — Cracker Lake, Akokala Lake, Slide Lake, and ten named creeks including Nyack, Coal, Ole, and Fish Creek among them.

The North Fork of the Belly River is also closed. Check the closed-waters list carefully before planning a stream trip; the restrictions exist because some of these drainages are the last strongholds for native fish that have nowhere else to go.

The prime fishing window runs roughly late April through late September, with snowpack and access roads dictating the early end of the season more than regulations do.

This is bear country — fish cleaning and food storage require the same attention as any backcountry travel in Glacier. The fishing here asks more of you than most places, and gives back something proportional to the effort.