Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with FWP Fisheries Biologist Brian Stephens about an incredible chain of lakes in Northwest Montana. These lakes are stunning in appearance and cover approximately 3,000 acres and stretch over 20 miles along Highway 2, halfway between Kalispell and Libby. This includes an extensive State Park that includes shoreline access to 18 lakes including McGregor Lake, Little McGregor Lake, Lower Thompson Lake, Middle Thompson Lake, Upper Thompson Lake, Horseshoe Lake and Loon Lake. Depending on which lake you fish you will find all kinds of different fish, such as Kokanee Salmon, several different species of Trout, Large Mouth and Small Mouth Bass, Northern Pike, Perch, Pumpkinseeds, and even a species of fish that you rarely find in Montana, the elusive Tiger Muskie! And get this we have not even named all the different species. Brian Stephens is extremely knowledgeable and when you listen to the podcast, he will take you on a podcast tour of several of the lakes and talks about what you can find in them. Rigger and Brian spent some time talking about the Tiger Muskie in Horseshoe Lake since that is a fish you just don’t find often in Montana. Brian talked about why they were put into Horseshoe Lake which is VERY interesting. Basically, they are used, in a way, like a biological Rumba to keep populations of non-sportfish down so that the lake can support fish that are more popular to fishermen. Wait until you hear how tricky these fish are! There are several campgrounds throughout the area so plan on staying a while and explore these lakes. They truly are fascinating and will get you addicted to the area since you can catch so many different species of fish in these lakes. It is likely that you will want to listen to this podcast more than once as there is a TON of information waiting for you.

Links:

• Click here to learn more and see activities, services and what’s nearby. You can also learn more about the Thompson Chain of Lakes and the State Park that covers almost the entire area click here. And Click here to see a map of campgrounds, boat ramps, day use areas, etc. on the Thompson Chain of Lakes.
• Click here to look up the regulations for these lakes. Since there are so many different species with different limits it is a good idea to get familiar with the regs. Regulations for Western District start on page 23.
• If you have any questions for FWP Fisheries Biologist Brian Stephens, click here to send him an email or call him at (406) 293-4161.
• Let Downrigger know your thoughts. Click Here to Email him.

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale caught up with Owen Willcox to talk about how he and his teammate Ziek Gordon pulled off a fantastic come from behind victory! Owen called in from the banks of Lake Oahe outside of Pierre, South Dakota where he and Ziek had just finished doing some pre-fishing for the 50th South Dakota Governor’s Cup Walleye Tournament. This is a fascinating podcast as Owen goes into great detail about how he and Ziek overcame one of the toughest Walleye Bites that the Gov Cup has seen in a very long time! You will learn how Owen and Ziek were able to somehow get into seventh place with just three fish at the end of Day One of the tournament. Then you will hear about the discussion that Own and Ziek had that night. They decided to throw caution and their original plan to the wind and head to…. Well, you will have to listen to the podcast to find out where they went and how they went from being in 7th place and almost 18 pounds behind the leaders to winning the whole thing! What were they using on the end of their lines to pull that off? How many fish did they have to catch to get to get that magic 5? What was their final winning weight? When you listen you will learn the answers to those questions and many others. Plus, you will also learn about Owen’s career as young professional fisherman on the National Walleye Tour! This was a VERY interesting part of the podcast as well since we rarely get to learn about tournaments outside of Montana. The National Walleye Tour takes Owen all across the country including the Great Lakes and even as far east as New York. Owen even gave some advice for other young men and women that might want to give the National Walleye Tour a try! Owen is only 20 years old but he is wise way beyond his years when it comes to fishing. Whether you fish tournaments a lot or never have you will for sure learn something from this podcast!

Links:

• If you would like to learn more about the Montana Governor’s Cup, click here.
• If you would like to see the standings of the Gov Cup after Day One, click here.
• If you would like to see the final results of where everyone finished the Gov Cup, click here.
• If you would like to learn more about Owen Wilcox, click here.
• If you would like to learn more about the National Walleye Tour, click here.
• If you have any questions for Owen Wilcox, click the link below and Rigger will get your questions answered for you.
• Of course, your old buddy Rigger would love to hear from you too so just click here to send him an email with your questions, comments or suggestions for future podcast topics!

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale sits down with the Chief Marketing & Communication Officer of the Montana Department of Commerce, Mitch Staley, to talk about the VisitMT.com website and all the amazing things it can do for Montanans and those outside of Montana that want to discover our great state. And believe us when we say they aren’t just talking about the typical trip to Glacier or Yellowstone Parks. Rigger and Mitch get goin down Montana roads that for sure qualify as the “roads less traveled”! When you listen you will learn how to find a Montana adventure that is perfect for you! Have you ever had this discussion with your spouse, kids, partner or traveling buddy; “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know, where do you want to go?” “Well, what do you want to do?” “I don’t know what do you want to do?”? VisitMT.com is the ultimate cure for that discussion! Mitch Staley explains how that website can even suggest a travel itinerary for you. For example, you can click on an area of the site labeled “Trip Ideas”. When you click on that it will give you ideas to click on like “5 Days in Eastern Montana” or “4 Days in Northwest Montana” or… Well, you just need to listen and learn about all the ways you can plan a trip on VisitMT.com. How about taking your kids on a Dinosaur Discovery Tour?! As Mitch explained there are all kinds of ways "To Montana" whether you love to fish, hike or…just listen to this podcast and find out “How You Can Montana”. If you are a business owner, you can promote your business on VisitMT.com for free! See the link below to get started!

There are a few links in the article above to get you to some of the areas that Rigger and Mitch talk about in the Podcast. Below are a few other links you will also find helpful.

Links:

• Again, here is the main link to get you started on VisitMT.com.
• Questions? You can call Visit MT at 1-800-847-4868 or click here for a live chat with the folks at Visit MT.
• Click here to learn more about promoting your business on VisitMT.com.
• Click here for many other related links that the Montana Department of Commerce and the Montana Office

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Fisheries Biologist for Region 1, Travis Rehm. They cover pretty much everything there is to know about Noxon Rapids Reservoir and the fish that call it home. Did you know just how diverse the fish population is in Noxon Rapids Reservoir and the fact that it is one of the only places west of the Continental Divide in Montana that you can catch Walleye? Not only that but you can catch as many of them as you want! What do we mean by that? Well, listen to the Podcast to find out. There has also been a lot of rumors, misconceptions and just plain mystery as to why certain things are done and mandated on the reservoir and by whom. Downrigger and Travis cover a lot of topics in this Podcast in an attempt to clear all that up. How did they do? Listen to the podcast to see if they were able to answer all your questions. Remember, if they didn’t you can find a link below to Travis’s email so you can ask him your questions! Beyond the attempt to clear up any controversy and confusion this Podcast also just delivers a TON of fascinating facts about this mysterious body of water. For example, do you know how big Noxon Reservoir is? How did the Walleye get into the reservoir in the first place? What other nonnative fish are in there? Who controls the damn on Noxon Reservoir? Bottomline, is the fish population healthy in the reservoir? Those are just a small number of the many questions and facts that get answered and given to you in this fascinating and informative Podcast.

Links:

• To find out more about Noxon Rapids Reservoir click here.
• Rigger and Travis talk about the latest Fisheries Monitoring report that Travis and others recently prepared about Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids Reservoir. Click here to download that report.
• For a copy of the 2024 Montana Fishing Regulations click here. Be sure and go to page 31 and read the Exceptions to Standard Regulations for Thompson Falls Dam to the Idaho Border (includes Noxon Rapids and Cabinet Gorge Reservoirs).If you would like to send Fisheries Biologist Travis Rehm an email to ask him any questions or give him your thoughts simply click here.
• Of course, Rigger would love to hear your thoughts about this podcast and/or any ideas you have for topics for future podcasts. Click here to email him!

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast FWP Fisheries Biologist Nathan Jaksha talks with your host Downrigger Dale about Canyon Ferry Reservoir and the fish that we all love to chase after in it. Nathan is new to the Montana FWP and Canyon Ferry Reservoir. What did steps did he take to learn all about the reservoir, and will he be making big changes to how the fish are managed there? How does he feel about how healthy the fish are in Canyon Ferry Reservoir? When Downrigger asked him why the Walleye in Canyon Ferry seem smaller than in other reservoirs what did Nathan say about that? Did he think the Walleye fishing regulations would help with that? Any changes ahead for the trout in the reservoir? When he takes off his FWP hat what are the fish he likes to target? Listen to Nathan’s answers to those and many other questions on the Montana Outdoor Podcast. All and all Rigger and Nathan had a VERY detailed and fascinating conversation that you really should listen to. All you need to do is to listen, there is no doubt you are going to find Rigger and Nathan’s conversation extremely interesting. As Downrigger put it, “Nathan really knows his stuff and it was fascinating to find out how he set out to learn everything he possibly could about this great body of water. One thing that really surprised me was when I asked Nathan where Canyon Ferry ranked on the list of water bodies that see the most fishing pressure in Montana!”. Whether you have been fishing Canyon Ferry your whole life or have never fished it before we are positive that you will learn a lot when you listen to this podcast!

Links:

• If you would like to learn more about Canyon Ferry Reservoir here are a few links for you: Canyon Ferry info from VistMT, or Canyon Ferry info from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, or Info about the Canyon Ferry Dam from the Bureau of Reclamation.
• One of the things that Downrigger brought up was an article he read about Walleye in Montana. In that article it mentions how many pounds of perch that walleye consume per year in Canyon Ferry Reservoir, but he could not remember that amount click here to read that article. The total amount is a staggering 750,000 pounds!
• If you would like to ask Nathan Jaksha any questions just click here to send him an email.
• Why not send your old buddy Downrigger Dale an email and tell him what you thought of this podcast and give him your ideas for future topics? Click here to send him an email.

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale has a great conversation with Ryan Medlinger owner of Reliable Steel Erectors. Ryan and his amazing team of builders construct steel buildings that are taking Montana by storm! These buildings are without a doubt the hottest trend in the way to live the outdoor life in a budget friendly and incredibly comfortable way and uses your land in the most efficient way you have ever seen, and is, well, really, really cool! You may have heard of the new construction style known as a Barndominium or Shouse. Both of those terms mean the same thing and basically mean that you combine a living space and shop, barn or outbuilding into one building. Ryan and his company, Reliable Steel Erectors, has taken that idea to a whole other level. What they do is turn the idea of a shop with living quarters into an incredible home that allows you to also store your boat, trucks, tools, RVs, etc. all together. What makes it so incredible is he can make them look and feel pretty much like any kind of style that you want. For example, when you listen to the podcast you will hear Ryan talk about one example where he covers the steel beams and such with wood to give the place a lodge look and feel and the options go on and on from there. What you end up with is a home and shop that is stronger, and way better insulated then any home you will ever find. You also may save money in a lot of ways from traditional construction. For example, you are not running wiring, plumbing and putting in separate foundations for two separate structures and the advantages go on from there. For those of you that also run a business on your property, the advantages increase even more! Not to mention you are using the space on your lot WAY more efficiently. Oh, and the inside is…well, you just need to listen to the podcast. So interesting!! Of course, Ryan also builds traditional shops, outbuildings, etc. as well using his unique steel construction process and you will learn about that too when you listen!

Note: Rigger mentioned in the podcast that there maybe some additional cost savings in property taxes and insurance which that might be the case, but it depends on location and other factors so don’t forget to investigate that as well!

Links:

• To learn more about Reliable Steel Erectors and Ryan click here.
• If you want to see some pictures of Ryan’s latest projects, click here.
• If you have questions for Ryan, click here to send him an email or simply give him a call at (406) 529-0191.
• And don’t forget to click here to email your buddy Downrigger Dale to let him know your thoughts about this podcast and to give him your ideas for topics for future podcasts!

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast we continued our series about learning waterways and species of fish that are new to you by hiring a fishing guide. Your host Downrigger Dale sat down with fishing guide Don Wilkins of 56 Fishing Guide Service for an amazing discussion about learning fishing techniques with fishing technology and oh so much more. Don guides on Fort Peck Reservoir and though he is fairly new to guiding he is hardly new to fishing; he’s been doing it his whole life. Rigger got to know Don through the Captain of the Montana Outdoor Radio Show. It seemed like every time Rigger and the Captain would see Don out on the water he was reeling in a huge Salmon, Lake Trout or Walleye. In fact, Don was the first person that Rigger had met that could catch the big salmon through the ice on Fort Peck. You will also learn about how Don uses his Garmin Livescope to help teach his clients jigging and other techniques. It really is amazing how it shows the jig and the fish approaching it and how his clients can see how the fish reacts to their technique. When you listen you will also hear Don go into detail about the gear, lures, bait and more that for he uses to catch the different species of fish in Fort Peck, and of course the techniques he uses to catch the King of the Fort Peck fish, the mighty King Salmon. WARNING: once you listen to all the things he tells Rigger about catching the incredible King Salmon you might just catch a nasty case of Black Jaw Fever! That is name for the addiction you will have once you catch on of those incredibly powerful fish. Just know that currently there is no cure for Black Jaw Fever. Don Wilkins can ease your symptoms by teaching you how to catch them but that just leaves you wanting more once the thrill wears off. Gang, DO NOT miss this Podcast!! You will learn a TON from Don not just about catching Kings but about catching other species as well!

If you want to learn more about Don Wilkins click here to view the 56 Fishing Guide Service, LLC Facebook page. Be sure and check out the incredible pictures on the Facebook Page by clicking here and watch those Livescope videos by clicking here. You can also learn more about Don by clicking here. Don also works through Eddie and the Gang at Lakeridge Lodging and Bait Shop and Big Sky Fishing Charters so click those links. If you have questions for Don, click here to send him and email. As always be sure and email your old buddy Downrigger Dale and let him know what you thought of this Podcast and what your ideas are for topics for future podcasts.

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.

Send us a Text Message.

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale and the Captain of the Montana Outdoor Radio Show sat down with Fort Peck Fishing Guide, Scott Collinsworth. Scott and his wife Jess are also the owners of Fort Peck Marina on the incredible Fort Peck Reservoir. One of the many topics that Rigger and the Captain talked with Scott about is the idea of someone that is not familiar with such a massive lake like Fort Peck, using a Fishing Guide like Scott to learn where to find amd catch all the different species of fish that the lake has to offer. They talked all about how to find the “Big Uns” like, well, none other than the King of Fort Peck Reservoir the Mighty Chinook Salmon! Catching 20 plus pounders is not unusual but as Scott explained it can be a real grind for even the most experienced fishermen that has been fishing Fort Peck for years. Thus, Rigger’s idea of hiring a guide like Scott if you are a newcomer to the 134 mile long lake. The Big Blackjaws were not all the boys discussed, however. Scott also gave out all kinds of great advice and described some of his most successful techniques for finding and catching HUGE Walleyes, some VERY FEISTY Smallmouth Bass, big Pike and Massive Lake Trout! When you listen to this Podcast it will be like getting a personal seminar from one of the top guides in all of Montana. Better yet why not go out fishing with Scott one of these days? Another thing you will learn about when you listen to the Podcast is a TON about Fort Peck Marina, the campground, tackle shop and the wonderful restaurant and bar. Make sure you listen to the entire podcast because there is fantastic advice that you will get from jigging techniques, tackle suggestions, when to go after the big Salmon, and much, much more. As Rigger put it; “Scott is an incredible teacher, he explains things so dang well and his ideas and overall approach to becoming a better fishermen are fascinating. I can’t wait to get out on the water and try what I have learned!! Lookout Blackjaws I’m coming for ya!!”

Links:

• For more information about Fort Peck Marina, the Campground, Restaurant, Tackle Shop and the Guide Service just click here.
• If you have questions for Scott, just call and leave a message for him at (406) 526-3442 and he will call you back after he gets done guiding some lucky folks through another great day out on Fort Peck Reservoir.
• Make sure you shoot your old buddy Downrigger Dale an email too and let him know what you thought of this podcast and give him your ideas for future podcast topics! Click here to send Rigger an email. You can also just click the Text Link above.

Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.