Montana Outdoor Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Yes, you read the title of the is Podcast correctly and yes, we meant to say that! All we should say about this one is YOU HAVE GOT TO LISTEN THIS PODCAST.  As Rigger put it, "when one of our audience members told me I should really consider doing a podcast about the North American Trap Collectors Association I yawned right after I read the words Trap Collectors. But I promis...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with the Executive Director of the Montana State Parks Foundation, Megan Buecking. No doubt many of you may be asking, "is that the formal name for the branch of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks that runs all Montana's State Parks?". We thought the same thing but when you listen to this Podcast...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Fisheries Biologist, Cody Nagel. Rigger and many of you that sent him emails felt it was super important to check in with Cody about how Fresno and Nelson Reservoirs were doing after what we heard Bureau of Reclamation Project Manager Steve Darlinton said on last week’s P...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Steve Darlinton Project Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation. Rigger and Steve have a fascinating discussion about the state of Freson Dam. You may recall back in December of 2023 Rigger talked with Steve about the precarious state that Fresno Dam was in. It was sinking! In fact, it had sunk ten feet si...

Send us Fan Mail There was once a law many years ago in Montana that basically said women were not allowed to fish alone! Well, move over guys because women in Montana are becoming Outdoors Women. This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Kylie Kembel, Coordinator of the BOW or Becoming an Outdoors Women program at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Kylie talks a...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale has a very interesting discussion with Brian Wakeling, Game Management Bureau Chief for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Rigger received emails from a whole lot of you wanting more information about the new Mule Deer Management Plan that Brian and his staff are working on right now. Mule Deer are a VERY popular sp...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale has an incredible discussion with Jennifer Patrick, Project Manager of The Milk River Joint Board of Control for the Milk River Project. This project is beyond remarkable. With over a century of successful operation, this engineering feat diverts water from the St. Mary River on the Blackfeet Reservation, flowing t...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to the Captain of the Montana Outdoor Radio Show, one of Fort Peck’s top fishing guides, Don Wilkins and none other than the Salmon Slayer himself Bill Zahradka! The episode title kind of says what this podcast is all about. When you listen to this podcast you will hear some great ideas that will keep you org...

Send us Fan Mail This week you host Downrigger Dale talks with Fort Peck Fisheries Biologist Heath Headley and Fort Peck Hatchery Manager Wade Geraets about how the annual Walleye egg collection effort went, which wrapped up not long ago. Rigger was also joined by a special guest that has not been on the Podcast for a while. Yeah, The Captain of the Montana Outdoor Radio Show came by and like usua...

Send us Fan Mail Do you remember about this time last year when we had Kit and Trevor Johnson here on the Montana Outdoor Podcast? Your host Downrigger Dale and his fishing buddy the Captain talked to them about the great big Kokanee Salmon that they had been catching on Holter and Hauser Reservoir. Many of you wanted to know how they were finding and catching those great big, beautiful Kokanee Sa...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to outdoor reporter, writer and Hunting and Conservation Editor for Outdoor Life, Andrew McKean. Andrew wrote a wonderful article for the 2025 March/April edition of Montana Outdoors Magazine. The title of the article is Double Bacon Cheeseburger with Fins. This fascinating article covers the history and the...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale has a blast talking with Kathy and Jody Goodman. Think about it, how many husband and wives do you see out fishing together? Sure, a lot of couples fish together now and then but you really don't see many that go fishing together a lot. But this couple sure does, and they are living proof that in their case a...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Shaun Jeszenka owner of Frontier Anglers. Shaun and his incredible group of guides cover some of the most famous trout waterways in the world! Rivers like the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Jefferson and more across Southwest Montana. These are rivers and streams that people from all over the world, who love to f...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Fishing Guide Josh Parrow about fishing for Walleye on Tiber Reservoir this Spring. Tiber is located about an hour or so north of Great Falls Montana. As far as we know Josh is the only one that guides on this legendary Walleye hot spot. In fact, Tiber is the former home of Montana's State Record Wall...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with the founder of the now 31st Annual Jerry Johnston Memorial Tough Guy Walleye Tournament, Joe Herbold. For those of you that fish the Walleye Tournament Circuit in Montana you'll likely recognize that name. In addition to starting the Tough Guy Tournament, for many years Joe was also the MC of the Su...

Send us Fan Mail This week your Host Downrigger Dale talks with Mack Days Tournament Manager Cindy Benson and her husband Mike Benson who has fished the Mack Days tourneys for many years! Cindy will give you all the details about this incredible Tournament which gets underway on March 13th and goes through May 10th on Flathead Lake in Northwest Montana. Downrigger referrs to the Mack Days Tourname...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale takes you way up to the Mountains of Northwest Montana to a lake that stretches for 94 miles all the way across the Canadian border into the Province of British Columbia. The lake was created when the dam was put across the Kootenay River north of Libby Montana. As manmade lakes go Koocanusa is not that old. It was...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Dave Chichester of Plugit Tackle. Dave talks about how he got into the tackle business when he started making lures for himself when the quality of his favorite lures that he used to buy started going downhill. Course little did he know that would turn into a thriving specialty lure company called Plugit T...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Brian Olson about Region 6's incredible ponds located in Northeast Montana. All across Montana's Hi-Line there is an unbelievable number of ponds that can be found if you know where to look. The amazing thing is they are full of huge fish! And even more amazing is the fact that very few folks fis...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your Host Downrigger Dale sits down with the head football coach of the Montana Grizzlies, Bobby Hauck for an exclusive interview about a side of the Big Sky Conference's most winningest head coach that you have likely never seen or heard from before. Coach Hauck talks about how fishing is therapy to him and can relive the incredible s...

Send us Fan Mail By Popular Demand! Held Over for Another Week! This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with outdoorsman Scott Arnold about ice fishing on 3 incredible reservoirs near Helena. Plus, Scott also covers ice fishing out on Georgetown Lake located 48 miles west of Butte near the historic little town of Philipsburg. Scott has ice fished these waterbodies...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with outdoorsman Scott Arnold about ice fishing on 3 incredible reservoirs near Helena. Plus, Scott also covers ice fishing out on Georgetown Lake located 48 miles west of Butte near the historic little town of Philipsburg. Scott has ice fished these waterbodies for over 40 years so he knows them better than...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with another of the top fishing guides in Montana, Captain Matt McComb. This topic is all about ice fishing in NorthWest Montana. Matt literally puts on a Master Class about how you can have great success ice fishing on the 30 plus incredible lakes up in Northwest Montana that are great for ice fishing. Matt...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Bill the Producer of one of the most anticipated sports shows of the year, The Great Rockies Sportshow! For the last 25 years this show has been bringing outdoor folks together to learn about the latest fishing, hunting, hiking and camping gear. Plus, the show always has the top experts in the world who te...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast we wanted to take some time to celebrate the New Year with a special Sneak Peek into some new things coming soon just for you! Your host Downrigger Dale talks to the Webmaster for MontanaOutdoor.com . Our very own Website Wonder, Hookem Harry, aka Harry Ward. Harry tells us all about the new changes to our website that are active online rig...