Montana Outdoor Podcast - Meet Ross Tate! Ross Gives a Masterclass on How to Find & Catch One of the Hardest Fighting & Best Tasting Fish in Flathead Lake, The Lake Whitefish!

Meet Ross Tate! Ross Gives a Masterclass on How to Find & Catch One of the Hardest Fighting & Best Tasting Fish in Flathead Lake, The Lake Whitefish!

08/03/24 • 53 min

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Ross Tate one of the best Lake Whitefish, aka, Lake Superior Whitefish, fisherman on Flathead Lake located in Northwest Montana. If you want to learn how to find and catch one of the hardest fighting fish in Montana, you HAVE TO listen to this week’s podcast. Ross was a wealth of information giving great advice on where to go on the lake, what to look for on your fish finder and even what rod, reel, line and lures work the best for these incredible eating fish. Yes, you heard right these fish are not just sought after because they are an exciting sportfish to catch, they taste incredible! In fact, when you listen to the podcast you will even learn from Ross how best to handle and clean the Lake Superior Whitefish so that you get the most flavorful fish that you may ever catch! One of the interesting things you will also learn is that these fish are the most abundant of all fish in flathead lake BUT for some reason there are only a few times in the year that you can find them and catch them. Why? Well, listen and Ross will give you one of his theories on that subject. There is so much you will learn here so get to listenin now!
Links:

If you want to learn more about the Lake Whitefish, click here to learn what the Montana Field Guide has to say about them.
Click here to look at a map of Flathead Lake so you can find some of the places Ross is talking about.
Ross talks about some of his favorite lures he uses to catch these fish. Click here and click here to check them out at Zimmer Tackle.
If you have any questions for Ross, you can click here to email him.
Downrigger would like to hear from you too. Click here to email him and tell him about your thoughts on this podcast or give your ideas for future topics you would like him to explore on upcoming podcasts.

Remember to tune in to The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, live every Saturday from 6:00AM to 8:00AM MT. The show airs on 30 radio stations 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

If you want to learn more about the Lake Whitefish, click here to learn what the Montana Field Guide has to say about them.
Click here to look at a map of Flathead Lake so you can find some of the places Ross is talking about.
Ross talks about some of his favorite lures he uses to catch these fish. Click here and click here to check them out at Zimmer Tackle.
If you have any questions for Ross, you can click here to email him.
Downrigger would like to hear from you too. Click here to email him and tell him about your thoughts on this podcast or give your ideas for future topics you would like him to explore on upcoming podcasts.

Previous Episode

The Montana Outdoor Podcast Discovers The Thompson Chain of Lakes In Northwest Montana

Send us a text

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.

Next Episode

undefined - Do You Have the Fishes of Montana App on Your Phone? What is it and How Does it Work? Learn About it and a Whole Lot More from Christopher Guy, Ph.D.

Do You Have the Fishes of Montana App on Your Phone? What is it and How Does it Work? Learn About it and a Whole Lot More from Christopher Guy, Ph.D.

Send us a text

This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Dr. Christopher Guy, Assistant Leader of the Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit and Affiliate Professor at Montana State University. Chris is one of the creators of the Fishes of Montana App. This is a great App that everyone who loves to fish or just wants to learn more about the fish we have in Montana should have on their phone. It truly is a wealth of information, and the best part is it is super user friendly and describes the fish in normal language and not science speak. No this isn’t your daddy’s Field Guide by any stretch! Don’t get us wrong if you want to get into the technical jargon the app has that too but for most anglers, we just want to have up to date info that can quickly help us out when we reel in something and wonder “what the heck did I just catch?”. Yeah, when you listen to the Podcast you will hear Dr Guy give a step-by-step example of how to quickly identify any fish in Montana. Another cool thing is it can help you find where a species of fish that you are looking for can be found in all the lakes and rivers it swims in Montana! Once you start using it you will have it at the top of your Apps list on your phone. The app is totally free to anyone that wants to download it. Now how the heck did Chris and his fellow App developers pull that off? Listen to learn all about that and who else was part of the App development team. Rigger also asked Chris about his 30+ years of research on the fish in our great State! Another question that Rigger asked Chis was what his favorite fish is to catch. We thought it would be one of Montana’s famous trout but that was not even close! Another super interesting thing is, of all the fish that Dr. Guy has come across in Montana during his 30+ years of research is the fish that he has found to be the most interesting. What do think it is? You guessed it...you'll need to listen to find out!
Links

Click here to learn more about Dr. Christopher Guy.
Click here to download the Fishes of Montana App for your iPhone or other IOS device.
Click here to download the Fishes of Montana App for your Android device.
If you have any questions for Chris, feel free to click here to email him. He would love to hear from you!
The Montana FWP has an interesting video about the App as well which also features Chris in it along with others that were involved with developing the App. Click here to watch that.
Do you have any comments about this Podcast or ideas for future topics? Click here to email them to Downrigger Dale or click the link at the top of this to text him.