Smith Lake is a small, 415-acre lake lying to the west of Kalispell off Highway 2, near the town of Kila. The lake is a “wetland” lake in that it is surrounded on three sides by a large wetland. The lake itself is also part of a Montana state wildlife refuge.

Smith Lake has moderate fishing pressure due to its very close proximity to Kalispell and the Flathead Valley.

Fishing species in Smith Lake include brook trout, rainbow trout, yellow perch and pike.

The lake has excellent fishing for perch, with fair fishing for rainbow trout. Montana FWP has in the past occasionally stocked the lake with rainbow trout.

Since Smith Lake is small and usually has light winds, virtually any boat works well for fishing. A boat ramp—which at times gets quite busy—is found at the fishing access site.

For those lacking a motorboat, inflatable boats such as pontoon boats, inflatable fishing kayaks and inflatable canoes all work well for fishing.

While the lake is scenic and it receives a fair amount of use, due to the close proximity of larger, more scenic lakes, few recreational boaters make their way onto Smith Lake. Instead, most use on Smith Lake is for fishing.

Photographs of Smith Lake

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Montana Lakes