Milk River Ridge Reservoir

[JJRND]

Has anyone fished the Ridge lately?? Any success? What's the ice like? Thanks.

[npauls]

If the water is anything like it was late fall then it will still be really murky and almost no visibility. I love that lake but this past summer and fall I barely fished it due to the murky water. The fishing was terrible and I am pretty it has to do with that low visibility.

If you end up out there could you post back how the water and fishing is?


Nate

[JJRND]

Ya I could do that. I am planning on trying the Ridge out sometime during the holidays. So I'll let you know how it goes.

[JJRND]

Went out to the ridge this evening, and not a bite. We were at the northeast portion of the reservoir and the water was still quite murky. The ice was almost a foot of hard black ice. No idea about why the water would still be murky.

[npauls]

Both ridge and cross have been really murky since the flood early on this year. I think it will just take a really long time to get those lakes to settle down. I really hope it is alot better for open water.


Nate

[jayteee]

Ive headed out to the upper ridge as well as the lower ridge around 6 times this season and spent countless hours trying everything. I am new to the lake so its quite discouraging not knowing where to go. DO you guys have any tips or anything relating to where to go? Iaim to catch pike

[JJRND]

We usually fish the northeast portion of the ridge with all the rocks along the shoreline. We mostly target walleye, but pike come by occasionally. When I was younger, we would fish the west side of the lake for pike. Just out 200 feet from the mouth of the canal. We were successful most of the time. We used tip ups with pickerel rigs and smelt. And then everything from spoons to bright jigs all tipped with smelts. If you want to go for walleye, go to the rocks and walk 20-30 feet out and try. As for pike, you can find them in just about any depth. We never fished more than 25 feet of water for them. I don't know if the water is still murky or not. But this could play a roll in having trouble finding the bite. Good luck!

[npauls]

I have heard the ridge and cross coulee are both still pretty dirty from the summer flooding.

Nate

[chubbdarter]

ive fished ridge maybe 50 times in my life, so im no expert.
Why does the murky water make fishing difficult?
I generally like stained water, especially for eyes.

[npauls]

It is way more then stained darter.

The water is super murky with only a foot or 2 of visibility since the floods. I am not to sure why it is still so dirty but I am hoping it start clearing up soon.

Nate

[chubbdarter]

i wish it was closer i'd sure like to give it a try. i really like dirty water

[npauls]

Next time you are down this way just let me know and I would be glad to join you out there and see what we can find.

It is only about 20 minutes south of the city so we could make an early morning or an afternoon trip if you didn't have all day.

Just shoot me a pm on here and we can discuss a trip.


Nate