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.
Western Montana Joins the Afternoon Shutdown
The entire Clark Fork, the Bitterroot and a long stretch of the Blackfoot are now closed from 2 p.m. to midnight.
Daytime highs in the nineties with nights barely dropping to sixty have pushed western Montana rivers past the line. Hoot-owl restrictions now cover the Clark Fork in its entirety, the Bitterroot and East Fork Bitterroot, and the Blackfoot from Cedar Meadow down to the Clark Fork confluence.
There is a separate set of restrictions aimed specifically at bull trout, covering hundred-yard radiuses around the mouths of Rattlesnake Creek, Fish Creek and the St. Regis. Bull trout and westslope cutthroat stack up where cold tributaries enter the main river, which is exactly where an angler would look for them and exactly where they can least afford the handling.
Anglers looking to escape the restrictions are running out of nearby options. The Flathead to the north is not affected yet. To the southeast the whole Big Hole, the lower Beaverhead, the entire Jefferson, the lower Gallatin and most of the Madison are all restricted, with a 24-hour closure still on part of the Madison.
Water above 66 to 73 degrees stresses trout before you ever touch one; being hooked and played adds to a load the fish is already carrying. Some do not recover.
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