Limit Fishing on the Blackfoot

The Blackfoot Drought Response Committee and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) request that anglers voluntarily limit fishing on the Blackfoot River and some of its tributaries until conditions improve.   Anglers are being asked to limit fishing on the mainstem Blackfoot River to morning-only and to cease all fishing in important bull trout tributaries.   The bull trout tributaries are Gold, Belmont, Cottonwood, Copper, Monture Creeks, North Fork Blackfoot River and Landers Fork.   The request takes effect on Saturday, August 14, 2004.

Regional Fisheries Manager, Pat Saffel, Missoula, is requesting the voluntary restrictions because instream flow in the river is dropping below the 600 cfs Blackfoot Drought Plan trigger.   “It is a critical step in the Blackfoot Drought Response Plan to protect fisheries that are threatened by the continuing drought conditions,” according to Saffel.   The plan was voluntarily developed by an extensive group of irrigators, landowners, The Blackfoot Challenge, Trout Unlimited, anglers, fishing outfitters and FWP.   The plan calls for voluntary reductions in water use from water right holders as part of a “shared sacrifice” approach to conserving the river’s fishery.   Fishing outfitters are also asked to participate.

Low flows, combined with high water temperatures, stress fish by concentrating them and reducing the amount of oxygen in the water.   Angling can add additional stress, especially for bull trout that prefer cooler temperatures.   By limiting fishing to morning-only on the mainstem Blackfoot River, caught and released fish will have a better survival rate because water temperatures are cooler in the morning.

Saffel says, “It’s time to ask all anglers to limit their fishing to morning-only on the mainstem of the Blackfoot River and to not fish the critical bull trout tributaries.”   According to Saffel, “For the next month, river conditions will be monitored closely.   Typically, we see rivers begin to cool by late August or early September.”   The Blackfoot River Drought Plan calls for lifting the restrictions in early September as river flows and temperatures allow.