Fishing restrictions possible on Flathead River due to low flows

State wildlife officials may implement fishing restrictions in Northwest Montana as rivers and streams run at or near historic lows for late July.

“It’s an inconvenience [for anglers], but it's life or death for the trout and the future of fisheries,” said Jim Vashro, president of Flathead Wildlife, Inc. and an avid angler.

Due to a severe drought in the Flathead Basin, a below-average snowpack, early runoff and extreme heat, flows in the North, South and Middle forks of the Flathead River are roughly one third of average for this time of year. Water temperatures are already hitting stressful levels for cold-water fish, specifically westslope cutthroats and bull trout.

“Any additional stress could cause them to die,” said Vashro.

As a result, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks could propose measures to minimize impacts from fishing, such as hoot owl fishing restrictions, meaning that fishing in rivers is prohibited between 2 p.m. and midnight. If conditions continue to worsen, full fishing closures may be implemented, the state agency warned.

State biologists are implementing these restrictions due to concerns about heat-induced stress in Montana’s trout populations. Fishing adds to the stress of the fish, and with heat and low flow as stressors already there is a risk of hurting the population by fishing more.

Trout are cold-water species, according to Vashro, and when water temperatures go above around 65 degrees, they get stressed out.

“We’re seeing exceptionally low flows and exceptionally high water temperatures,” Vashro said. “This is new territory.”

Fisheries biologists are most concerned about the three forks of the Flathead River, the mainstem of the Flathead River upstream of Old Steel Bridge in Evergreen, as well as the Swan and Thompson rivers.

Hoot owl restrictions are already in place for other Montana rivers, including the Beaverhead, Bitterroot, Jefferson, Lower Madison and Sun rivers.

According to Vashro, restrictions like this have not occurred for years, especially for the Flathead River. To his knowledge, the Thompson River has had hoot owl restrictions a few times in the past.

The restrictions come from administrative rules that provide for angling adjustments during periods of drought. These include restrictions in areas where species of interest are present, temperature has increased for a period of time, fishing pressure is high and streamflow conditions are deteriorating.

While Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has not yet officially requested any closures or restrictions, they are encouraging anglers to voluntarily limit their fishing to the morning hours when the water is coldest and fish are less stressed.

Anglers can also minimize stress by landing the fish quickly, keeping it in the water as much as possible and removing hooks gently.

Another way to alleviate the issue is to steer away from river fishing in general by going to larger lakes, reservoirs or higher elevation water bodies to fish instead.

For further information and updates, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/news/current-closures-restrictions/waterbody-closures or contact the FWP Region 1 office at 406-752-5501.

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.

Support local journalism — subscribe to the Daily Inter Lake today.