Thank goodness it's fall: A summer of restrictions

Published Sept. 14, 2007 on flyfishersguide.com

By JOSHUA BERGAN

TGIF (thank goodness it's fall).

Ninety-degree day after 90-degree day caused Montana's drought to continue. Smoke from area forest fires made the sunshine an eerie red at high noon. One-by-one, Montana's rivers were slapped with so-called "hoot owl" restrictions, and frustration reigned amongst fishermen.

Runoff, 2007

But instead of resorting to evenings-behind-the-vice next July, consider the good fortune that these closures bring.

Countless mountain creeks and lakes provide great water, yet sit ignored like the kid picked last in a playground kickball draft.

Those kids could kick home runs too, ya know.

Likewise, these less-popular streams can be the stuff of dreams. You just might be rewarded with a new secret hole.

How does it come to this, you might ask?

In Montana, these afternoon and evening closures are implemented when a river's temperature reaches 73 degrees for three consecutive days and are lifted when that water's temps stay below 71 degrees for three consecutive days.

Normal flow

This past summer, it often felt like more rivers were closed than open. Many rivers teetered on record-low levels and some, like the Jefferson and Yellowstone Rivers, set new low flow marks.

More examples: On August 13, the Big Hole River near Melrose, Mont. was flowing at 143 cubic feet per second (the long-term average for that date is 414). Similarly, the Yellowstone River near Livingston set a new low-flow record at 1,710 cfs that day, besting 1931's record of 1,760 cfs (the average for that day is 3,740). On July 2, the average flow for the Gallatin River is 1880 cfs. This July 2, it was 879. And Rogers Lake, which hosts an important population of endangered Arctic grayling, lost several of those fish due to water temperatures in the 80s.

The story was the same in Yellowstone National Park where 2 p.m. to 5 a.m. closures afflicted the park's waters. The Firehole River, which is powered largely by geyser runoff, had a significant fish kill in July due to temperatures in the 80s.

Wildfires caused in part by dry conditions can also limit the fishing.

August 14, 2007

Fishing access sites and sections of national forest are often closed when fires encroach and occasionally, sections of larger rivers are closed for fire fighting operations (i.e. helicopters dipping buckets into a river).

Locally, a few things are done to limit the damage to fish populations during these sweltering dog days.

The Big Hole Watershed Committee has implemented everything from a phone tree alerting fellow river users to conditions to meetings with Montana FWP and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to discuss the best conservation method for the Big Hole River, which often includes cooperation from farmers and ranchers by limiting what they use for irrigation.

Conservation-minded anglers can do their part by using barbless hooks, wetting their hands before handling fish, using rubber nets or nets without knots and keeping the fish in the water as much as possible. But most anglers respect the fish enough to avoid fishing for them in these stressful times.

Matter in fact, a recent Billings (Mont.) Gazette Outdoors poll revealed that 45 percent of respondents favored closing fishing altogether where hoot owl restrictions are imposed, and 42 percent favored mandatory, as opposed to voluntary, restrictions.

The situation never got as bad in other western states. In Idaho, for example, many rivers were drawn down, but that's likely due to irrigation more than heat. Warm water never threatened the health of the fish (although many fisheries in Idaho are spring fed).

If you can't make it up to a mountain creek, there are other options.

1) Get out early. The closures generally don't apply in the morning, as the waters are relatively cool from the night before (although caution should still be exercised when fighting fish).

Dan Lohmiller, who runs The River's Edge fly shop in Bozeman, had been sending anglers to the Yellowstone in the mornings and the Upper Madison, which maintains relatively cool temperatures and avoids closures. He added that walk-in business was slower but the guiding service hadn't taken a hit.

2) We've all heard of the carp madness sweeping the West, by now. There must be a reason it's become popular, so you could give that a shot. Other warm-water fishing opportunities are out there, and cost nothing more than a little (a lot of) gas money.

All of that said, the fuss is about over for this year. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks predicts the last of the river closures to end any day now.

So, there's reason to be thankful for hoot owl restrictions, a golden opportunity to break the routine and broaden your horizons.