Joe Frank

On January 15th, opening day of Pablo Reservoir ice fishing season, Joe Frank from EatwildMT, met with Pablo native, Trey Nordberg for a day of catching jumbo perch through the ice on Pablo Reservoir. The Reservoir is open to fishing from sunrise to sunset, and we showed up a little after 8am as the sun was starting to rise above the snow-capped Missions. The access point to the reservoir during winter is located on the dam by the pump house. Extra care should be taken and noted, as there is no great access to get your gear onto the ice. You have to scale 20 feet of frozen rip rap bank to get to the ice.

Ling, if your from Western Montana, or burbot, if your east of the Divide, is an eel-like freshwater fish that looks like something right out of a horror movie to some. But, to Great Falls resident Ronald Miller, they look like dinner. He claims them as his favorite fish to eat, referring to them as “the Original Poor Man’s Lobster”, due to their chewier lobster like taste and texture. Ron grew up in Alaska, where he learned to fish with his dad until moving to Montana for their love of elk hunting.