HISTORY OF MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHERIES
 
Mountain Lake Fisheries was formed in August of 1991 to commercially develop one of northwest Montana’s most abundant natural resources, Lake Superior whitefish from Flathead Lake. Located near Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake (below) is the largest natural fresh water lake west of the Mississippi River.
    
 
 
 
In 1903 Lake Superior whitefish (lake whitefish) were transplanted into Flathead Lake in an attempt to create a commercial fishery. It failed at the time because of
inadequate forage. However, a relatively few whitefish did manage to survive
in the lake over the years, averaging around a pound apiece.

In an effort to provide better forage for Kokanee Salmon within northwest Montana lakes, in 1989 the state planted mysis shrimp. These shrimp eventually filtered into Flathead Lake through an interconnecting river system and their numbers mushroomed dramatically. With this abundant new food source, whitefish numbers exploded over the next few years with some fish reaching up to 9 pounds. When their numbers began to endanger other trout species within the lake, the state decided to allow commercial single line whitefishing. With a grant from the Montana Dept. of Agriculture, in 1990 a feasibility study was done to determine if a local market existed for whitefish fillets and if a commercial enterprise could harvest sufficient whitefish to meet the demand by rod and reel fishing alone.
 
Because of Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park, northwest Montana is a summer tourist mecca. A brief survey indicated a strong potential market within local tourist oriented restaurants for local foods, including our locally caught whitefish. Once approached, many area restaurants expressed an interest in our whitefish and, during market testing, described them on their menus as local fish, all caught by rod and reel. Brisk sales told us we had a market!
The next phase of our study was to determine if enough fish could be caught by single line methods to fill the demand we were going to create. A local ad brought an eager response from a large pool of retired senior citizens eager to learn how to catch this scrappy fish. Ten experienced fishermen were then selected and instructed to fish Flathead Lake as often as possible that first summer and Flathead River (below) the following fall. While they were only able to harvest approximately 1,500 pounds of whitefish from the lake itself, they took an astounding 15,000 pounds from Flathead River that first fall. We had a business!

Early on, our whitefish fillets were wholesaled only to local restaurants. As word of their quality spread, however, our marketing area gradually expanded to cover the entire state. Our whitefish fillets are now served in fine dining establishments throughout Montana, including lodge restaurants within both Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks.

As more and more out-of-state tourists sampled our whitefish in area restaurants, calls began coming in requesting that we establish a retail outlet for our products. These satisfied private customers now form the basis of our thriving retail mail-order and online business.

Annually, Mountain Lake Fisheries now coordinates up to 60 independent commercial fishermen in the rod and reel harvest of approximately 20,000 pounds of Flathead Lake whitefish. Considering the state estimates the lake's whitefish population at between 5 to 15 million, it's astounding to realize that our total annual commercial harvest constitutes only 2/5 of 1% of their lowest 5 million estimate. This is truly a "sustainable" fishery!

Mountain Lake Fisheries, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 1067
Columbia Falls, Montana 59912
Toll Free: 888-809-0826
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