Third Saturday in May means the start of the Montana general fishing season. Now most of those streams I had to pass by are fair game.
Regards,
Scott
I didn’t realize there was a closure in Montana. Thought you could fish anytime it was warm enough.
Karen -
There are many, many streams and rivers in Montana that are open all year. A lot of the smaller streams that are closed are not usually accessable nor fishable for a good part of the winter and are in runoff at the season opener.
Up until 2011, Idaho was on a similar schedule, with the general season opener the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and November 30, the closing date. In 2011, Idaho went to all waters open all year unless closed by exception. And there are not a lot of exceptions.
About five years ago, I was discussing the season regulations with one of the honchos at Idaho Fish and Game. I made the points about winter conditions and how so many places were closed by the weather, and even on those that weren’t very few folks would venture out to fish them in the Idaho winter, and those that did wouldn’t put a dent in the fishery, plus the comments about runoff at the start of the season and how few folks will fish the runoff.
Two years later they changed the regs. My guess is that they got the same kind of feedback from a lot of other anglers.
John
Some of the smaller rivers and streams are closed to all fishing until the late May opening to allow the Rainbows and Cutthroats to spawn and not be disturbed. By late May that is all over with and the fish are heading back to the larger rivers to bulk up again. Other rivers are open for catch and release only until late May, then depending upon the river some fish can be kept, either based on number of fish, slot sizes or species. Montana is very protective of their Cutthroats and Bull Trout. Larry —sagefisher—