More fishing restrictions ordered in western Montana

Another set of fishing restrictions has been ordered on streams in western Montana as water levels drop and temperatures rise.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced this week that it was ordering full fishing closures near the mouths of three Clark Fork River tributaries and evening fishing restrictions on three rivers.

The full closures apply to the Clark Fork River within 100 yards of its confluence with Rattlesnake Creek, Fish Creek and the St. Regis River.

The so-called “hoot owl” restrictions ordered this week apply to the North Fork of the Flathead River and parts of the St. Regis River and Rock Creek.

The rules bar fishing from 2 p.m. to midnight each day.

The restrictions began Wednesday.

Montana has limited fishing on more than a dozen streams this summer, including some portion of most of its famous trout destinations. In addition to the new closures, the Clark Fork is under a hoot owl restriction from Warm Springs Creek downstream to its confluence with the Flathead River.

The state orders these rules nearly every summer in response to high water temperatures and low streamflow.

In general, fisheries experts warn that water temperatures in the high 60s are stressful for coldwater species like trout. Fish that are caught and released in warm water are more likely to die from the combined stressors.

Montana’s fisheries management plan lines out when the state orders the restrictions based on species-specific temperature threshholds and other factors.

The threshhold for streams that are home to bull trout is 60 degrees. For cutthroat trout, it’s 66 degrees. Both species are less tolerant of warmer water temperatures than species like brown and rainbow trout.

Those are the threshholds that triggered some of the restrictions ordered this week.

The St. Regis River, which winds through the mountains near the town of the same name, had been above 66 degrees since July 18, according to FWP.

Rock Creek had exceeded that threshhold for three days.

On the North Fork of the Flathead, water temperatures had been above 66 degrees for more than a week and above 68 for two days when the restriction was ordered, according to FWP’s fishing restrictions web page. The stream is home to bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.

It’s the first time the state has ordered a hoot owl restriction on the stream, which begins in Canada and runs south along the eastern edge of Glacier National Park before joining the Middle Fork of the Flathead River near Columbia Falls.

Dillon Tabish, an FWP spokesman based in Kalispell, said the river has neared the threshhold in the past but this was the first time it stayed above 66 degrees for multiple days in recent memory.

Tabish said the area’s long-term forecast is calling for more warm and dry weather, and that it’s possible more restrictions could be on the way.

Anglers have been understanding, he said.

“It’s hard to ignore the reality up there that it’s hot and our native trout don’t need the extra stress and mortality,” Tabish said.