Montana Fishing Closures

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

It would appear the Hoot Owls have arrived in SW Montana

http://fwp.mt.gov/fishing/guide/waterClosure.html

Regards,
Scott

2

Scott,

I really hate to see that, but it is not unexpected. I love fishing the Clark Fork River between Superior and Paradise so I keep a close eye on the level of the river. It just keeps going down, at a steady rate, but it should have stopped and leveled off, so I am afraid that that river may be placed on restricted fishing soon. I really do hate to see that.

Larry —sagefisher—

3

Larry,

We could definitely use some rain but at least, for now, we’re not seeing high temps so maybe things won’t be as bad as last year, fishing and fire-wise. By the 4th in 2015, we had seen a string of days in the upper 90’s with no rain for most of June; conditions were so bad they cancelled all fireworks in the Flathead Valley.

Regards,
Scott

4

Thanks for posting this, Scott. Did not realize conditions got this bad this fast.

5

Hi Scott,
Any word on how much the poisoning of the Soda Butte has had on the fishing there this year ?
Thanks,
Steve

6

The poisoning has had no effect whatsoever. The way they actually wound up doing it, shocking a bunch of the cutts and then applying the rotenone, then putting the cutts back in, made much more sense than the original plan.

7

Thanks for that info, LFC, appreciate it.

Gene

8

Shocking brings up another question - years ago there was a fly shop owner I talked to who was incensed about the shocking they were doing on a river in Oregon, as he was positive it weakened the fish, killed some, and was a totally awful thing. I wonder how the shocking has proved out over time?

9

Here in Ct. they do it every August on the Farmington River. They remove the large holdover trout and take them back to the hatchery. They use these fish as spawners for next year’s fish. They call it the Survivor Program. They feel there genetics are still strong and will pass these genetics along to there offspring. These fish have been in the river for several years, and the DEP has been following them for years. The river is fishing as well as it ever has, seems to be successful. My other point is the shocking to my knowledge has little effect on the fish only a momentary stunning.

Gene

10

Been off the grid for a few days; just saw that more waters were added to the list:

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/restrictions/waterClosure.html

In addition, part of the Bitterroot River has been shut down due to the Roaring Lion fire outside Hamilton:

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/closures/waterbodies/nr_0100.html

Regards,
Scott

11

I had been under the misimpression that river closures were based solely on the water reaching a certain temperature. Apparently water temperature is not the only criteria, and the decisions are based on judgements being made within the FWP on various factors, including water levels within the individual streams, that would be stressful to trout.

There was a lengthy front page article in yesterday’s Livingston newspaper discussing this subject that included statements made by FWP Commission Chairman Dan Vermillion and others. Apparently I was not alone in not understanding what triggered these hoot owl restrictions as John Bailey, owner of Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston, was quoted in the article as also not fully understanding FWP’s policy.

FWP’s drought policy calls for angling restrictions when flows drop below critical levels for fish, when water quality is diminished, or when water temperatures increase to levels that stress fish for three consecutive days.

In summary, even if water temperatures drop, angling restrictions could remain in place for awhile until water flows increase. Since water levels typically do not increase at this time of the year, these restrictions could remain in place for weeks or even longer on some streams.

12

I recently moved to Missoula. Any idea when the water levels usually begin to rise?

Blackfoot was really low yesterday. By 10 am the temp was starting to rise. I never fish after 10 am. Besides,
it looks like most of the fish were in the deep holes. Between 3 anglers none of us had a single hit. I didn’t see
any rises.

Well at least I got a chance to practice my double spey casting.

Randy

13

I wouldn’t expect much until fall rains/snows. Last summer it was bone dry, hot, with fires all around NW Montana thru July-Aug. Finally got some much-needed rains in early Sep that dampered the fires but they shouldered into the fall.

Regards,
Scott