A special March Madness

Well as March arrives (like a lion) we have lots to talk about!

In the state of Montana, our license year runs from March 1 to the last day in February, this year being a leap year, our license expired Feb. 29.

New this year was the fact that we were not able to purchase our 2020 license until the day they were needed, on a Sunday no less, and no earlier than 5 a.m. online.

This raised many questions among sportsmen and women as well as resort operators, guides, outfitters, etc.

I won’t go into all the details here, but it created more questions than answers, on many levels.

We were assured that no enforcement for failure to

have a license would take place.

Confounding the problems with the sale of new licenses is the state moving to a plain paper medium for our licenses, including carcass tags, from the previous thermal paper.

For your license and receipts this is only an inconvenience in that the paper will take up more space and not be as durable.

Thankfully Montana does accept an electronic copy so you can keep your license records on your mobile device.

Handy, at least for those of us that carry our devices in the field.

Now, maybe I am missing something, but what I don’t understand is how the state will prevent the unethical from copying multiple, “plain paper” carcass tags?

Guess we will see how this is going to be handled, but I foresee a big Homer Simpson “DOH” moment in Helena…

Moving on to the fishing situation here in the valley, I can say that this is one of my favorite times of the year.

It is exciting to be offering both open water and ice fishing trips to our clients.

In fact, we have the opportunity to ice fish in the morning and open water fish in the afternoon!

I don’t know too many places in the U.S. that can offer that in the same day. If the weather doesn’t cooperate for one activity, we still have the option for the other.

In fact, just last weekend, FWP reinstalled the dock at West Shore State Park allowing anglers easy access to the lake for this early spring fishery.

I cannot remember a winter as mild as this one has been in my 22 years in the valley.

Despite the extremely mild weather there is still some very good ice fishing to be found from Eureka to Missoula with many popular lakes in the best condition we’ve seen in the last several years.

The shorelines take the most beating, especially at the accesses with these sunny days we’ve been having.

One must be extremely careful getting on and off the ice but once on the ice on most lakes the ice is still in very good shape. Of course, one must check the ice for themselves and don’t assume anything.

Late ice fishing can be very productive, especially as snow cover melts off and small streams begin to run, allowing sunlight and oxygen rich water back into the lakes.

This really gets the fish active again and when they are active, they are feeding. In many instances fish can be found well up off the bottom; even right under the ice.

When using your fish finder these fish may not be easily seen so adapt a “top down” fishing style, jigging just below the ice, to avoid just dropping past these fish.

For the most recent and up-to-date fishing reports you can call Snappy’s Fishing Hotline at 756-BAIT (2248).

I’ll see you on the water!

- Howe is the owner/outfitter at Howe’s Fishing, A Able and Mo Fisch Charters. Call 406-257-5214 or at www.howesfishing.com