Conditions described here were accurate only as of the date shown and may have changed. This is not a substitute for current official information from the agency with jurisdiction. See the full notice. Full notice.
Nineteen Waters Restricted, and the Season Is Tracking Like the Worst One on Record
Below-normal snowpack and a hot summer have Montana running close to 2024, the most restrictive year the state has had.
Nineteen bodies of water across Montana were under hoot-owl restriction as of this week, limiting fishing to the hours between midnight and 2 p.m. At the same point last year the figure was sixteen.
The comparison officials keep reaching for is 2024, one of the most restrictive seasons the state has recorded. Below-normal snowpack going into the summer and hotter-than-normal temperatures through it are the two drivers, and neither is the sort of thing that turns around inside a week.
The restrictions are triggered by water temperature reaching levels dangerous to native trout rather than by a calendar. That means they come off the same way they go on, river by river, as conditions allow.
If you are planning a trip, the list is the thing to check the morning you leave rather than the week you book. It has been moving in both directions all summer.
Sources