Kirkwood Blog

Check out the Floating Cabin….

People had so much fun!  It was a beautiful day with fun things to do and watch all day.  The morning started out with Yoga and Zumba on the jetty and in the Boathouse.  Then, the 1st Annual Hebgen Cup Sailboat Regatta in the afternoon.  As people began to arrive for the Trout Presentations and Tasting…along with Music and Beer-Tasting…the Fly-Casting lessons and Kayak rides began.  The Trout Entries were fantastic, followed by a Dessert Auction, which raised money to allow us to donate to a conservation project for Hebgen Lake AND increase the prize money for the Trout Cook-Off next year!  The night ended with terrific music by Suzi Ragsdale and Josh Bond, joined by Bozeman saxaphonist, Ryan Matzinger.

Put the 3rd Saturday in August 2012 at Kirkwood on your calendar now…you won’t want to miss it!

The weather was not what they expected, but it didn’t put a damper on the Bradford Clan’s Memorial Day weekend at Kirkwood together.  Check out the pictures…they speak for themselves.  

We talked with them at the cleaning station one morning after they had been on the lake for an hour.  Tom said they were trolling along the willows across the lake from Kirkwood at about 2.5 mph, letting out lots of line in about 4 feet of water, using blue and purple Thomas Cyclones and Buoyants.

There is open water on most of the lake…the ice has pushed its way down toward the dam, so there is ice in front of Kirkwood right now, but some open shore water.  It is supposed to stay warm enough to continue the melt.  Expect to get boats out the Kirkwood Marina by this weekend!  See you soon.

Fishermen are scattering the shore for the great shore fishing right now.  Saw one boat on the water yesterday, but the shore fishing is the way to go when the snow melt is coming into the lake from the mountains.

Hebgen Lake has been melting fast. Its broken up to the Longhorn and shores between us and them are open 15-20 feet out.  Shore fishing is on and it is beautiful.  Come up and join the fun.

It snowed about 6 inches last night and was in the 20′s, with the temp today forecast to be in the 30′s.  It will take a little while for the ice to go with this kind of weather.  We hear the dam master is going to adjust the water level some and that should help break up the ice, which will help the melt.  Stay tuned….!

April 1 and, no fooling, the lake is still completely covered with snow and ice.  There is some slush and water sitting on top of the ice, but it will be at least the end of April, probably  mid-May, before the ice goes off. Keep coming to this blog and we’ll post pictures for you so you can judge when to come to Hebgen for this spectacular time for fishing.

Couldn’t have been a better day…snowed all day but not cold, NO wind, great people who had fun helping each other fish and tell stories….and plenty of fish caught!!!  See pictures of the winners…and others having fun.

Terry Thomas-Winner of First Fish

Terry Thomas from Big Sky also helped others have a great day of fishing, including the winning Irish Mafia Team from Bozeman.

The Irish Mafia won Most Fish

And, Breanna Moylan, one of the Irish Mafia, was the Biggest Fish winnter!

Biggest Fish Winner-Breanna Moylan

Join us at Kirkwood Resort & Marina for the Winter 2011 Hebgen Lake Ice Fishing Festival, ending with a fun big event on Saturday, March 5th, that is guaranteed to be “smokin’ hot” regardless of the snow and ice!

Every time you put your pole in a hole on Hebgen Lake (we’ll help you drill one!) between January 5 and March 4 contact us while you are on the lake so we can give you a piece of a puzzle that tells your prize for participating in the Festival. There are 5 pieces to everyone’s puzzle so be sure to come fish Hebgen Lake 5 days this winter and check in with Kirkwood staff while you are here. Remember, a “smoking hot” Festival undoubtedly will have some prizes that will warm you up! And, the chance of catching one of those 3 pound Browns off the Kirkwood Marina jetty is pretty exciting too!

The BIFT started the Festival out with an appearance and calendar signing at the Kenyon Noble store in Belgrade. Then, it was off to the Cinnamon Lodge south of Big Sky for the Welcome Party.  Look at the pictures below and you’ll see we had a great Montana welcome!
Thanks, Morgan and Daniel, for hosting a great Party!

The next morning, the BIFT girls had as much fun on Hebgen Lake as everyone else!

And to celebrate the great day, the Team entertained the crowd at the Awards and Show at the Longhorn Saloon on Saturday night.