Little Bitterroot Lake fishing: Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout

Target species: Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout, Arctic Grayling

The lake

Little Bitterroot Lake covers 2,914 acres in Montana, across Flathead County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 260 feet (79.2 m). Our records hold 4 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 260 ft (79.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 29 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–20 ft: 16.9% of the water
  • 20–40 ft: 10.8% of the water
  • 40–60 ft: 9.1% of the water
  • 60–80 ft: 7% of the water
  • 80–100 ft: 7.5% of the water
  • 100–120 ft: 5.7% of the water
  • 120–140 ft: 5.4% of the water
  • 140–160 ft: 8.5% of the water
  • 160–180 ft: 3.7% of the water
  • 180–200 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 200–220 ft: 3.1% of the water
  • 220–240 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 240–260 ft: 15.7% of the water

Stocking: 14,829,288 fish, 1995–2024

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks records list 14,829,288 fish released into this water from 1995 to 2024.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2021
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2021 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain
  • Rainbow Trout: 7,641,397 in 2005–2024
  • Cutthroat Trout: 2,286,891 in 1924–1971
  • Arctic Grayling: 911,088 in 1930–1935
  • Brook Trout: 17,152 in 1947–1950

4 more species on the stocking list.

4 target fish, led by Rainbow Trout

  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Cutthroat Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Brook Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Arctic Grayling — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 30–54.5 feet on our readings, averaging 40.3 feet, from 31 readings. Our water temperature readings average 67°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. These readings span 2017–2023.

Where this data comes from

  • Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • 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.