Lake Elwell fishing: Rainbow Trout, Cisco, Lake Trout

Target species: Rainbow Trout, Cisco, Lake Trout

The reservoir

Lake Elwell covers 22,754 acres in Montana, across 2 counties: Toole and Liberty. It is a reservoir: 92.5% of it is 110 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is ≈181 feet (55.1 m). Our records hold 7 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: ≈181 ft (55.1 m). 92.5% of the water is 110 feet or shallower. We hold 139 depth contours for this water, drawn from 5,429,580 soundings.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2021
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2021 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain
  • 0–10 ft: 38.2% of the water
  • 10–20 ft: 11.9% of the water
  • 20–30 ft: 8% of the water
  • 30–40 ft: 6.2% of the water
  • 40–50 ft: 5.4% of the water
  • 50–60 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 60–70 ft: 4.8% of the water
  • 70–80 ft: 3.7% of the water
  • 80–90 ft: 3.1% of the water
  • 90–100 ft: 2.9% of the water
  • 100–110 ft: 3.4% of the water
  • 110–120 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 120–130 ft: 2.9% of the water
  • 130–140 ft: 2.5% of the water

3 target fish, led by Rainbow Trout

  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Cisco — Feeding water: 40–60°F.
  • Lake Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Also recorded here: Northern Pike, Walleye, Black Crappie, Spottail Shiner.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 22,754 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.

Where this data comes from

  • US Bureau of Reclamation — USBR reservoir sedimentation surveys: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2002.
  • US Bureau of Reclamation, Technical Service Center — USBR reservoir bottom surfaces (GIS): class A, a survey of the bottom, 2021.
  • Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (RISE) — USBR area-capacity tables (RISE): class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.

Part of these depths rest on an averaged water level, so they are approximate (≈).