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Georgetown Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The high mountain flat: rainbows, brookies and a legendary ice season at 6,400 feet.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
6428.79 ft
Air / High
37 / 46 F
Wind
NW 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 12325000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Georgetown Lake is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The nearest gauge reads 6428.79 ft, up 0.11 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 10 mph, rising pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 46. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:11 AM-12:11 PM and 10:41 PM-12:41 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brook troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F is the fall spawning band (40-50Β°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 44 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Montana requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $31.00 for residents. What a Montana licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with FWP before you keep anything. The season dates for Montana, read off the agency, are on the Montana seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Georgetown Lake near Philipsburg, MT.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 12325000.

6428.646428.806428.976428.79 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp37 F
High / Low46 / 32 F
WindNW 10-20 mph
Pressure1011.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset08:01 / 18:32
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Georgetown Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Georgetown Lake, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:11 AM-12:11 PM and 10:41 PM-12:41 AM
Minor period
4:36 AM-5:36 AM
Sun
08:01 to 18:32
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 12 mph
Rain chance
100%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Georgetown Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. Below 50Β°F is the fall spawning band (40-50Β°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Georgetown Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Georgetown Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Montana requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Combined trout limits with kokanee rules; check brood-stock protections. Confirm with FWP.

Access

Ramps at Denton's Point, Rainbow Bay, Piney; Georgetown Lake Road circles most access.

About this water

~3,000 acres at 6,400 ft near Anaconda, MT. Fertile, shallow, famous for growth rates and ice culture.

Fishing Georgetown Lake: the full guide

Anaconda's home water

Georgetown sits shallow, fertile and cold: rainbows and brook trout fatten on scuds and leeches, fall brings brood-stock plants, and winter turns it into one of Montana's most social ice fisheries. Float tubes over weedbeds is the summer craft.

Weedbed logistics

Georgetown is essentially one huge weedbed with channels: trout cruise the edges eating scuds, damsels and leeches. Float tubes and small boats work the seams; shore anglers do best at the pumphouse and Denton's Point drop-offs. Brook trout add color; rainbows add shoulders.

The ice institution

At 6,400 feet the lake ices reliably: December through March brings a genuine village: kokanee suspend at 20-30 ft, rainbows patrol the weed edges, and the social scene rivals the fishing. Our winter reports flag the thaw cycles that matter for access.

High-altitude horsepower

At 6,400 feet, Georgetown packs more trout per acre than any Montana water: rainbows and brookies gorge on scuds and damsels across the shallow weedy bowl, growing football-shaped by August. Fly anglers strip leeches over the weed tops from float tubes; winter flips it into Montana's most social ice fishery, with Anaconda's shanty town jigging maggots for the same fat fish.

Common questions

What makes Georgetown trout grow so fast?

Shallow fertility: scud and insect biomass at altitude with a long ice season concentrating feed windows. Two-year fish reach sizes valley lakes need four for.

How high is Georgetown Lake?

6,400 feet in the Pintler shadow: summer stays cool and the ice season runs long. Afternoon storms build fast: mornings are the reliable window on this open bowl.

Is fishing good at Georgetown Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Rock Creek39 miBig Hole River48 miBlackfoot River53 miClark Fork River (Missoula)57 miBitterroot River58 miBeaverhead River69 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 12325000 β€” Georgetown Lake near Philipsburg, MT
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 46.1856, -113.2910 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.