Proposed Regs May Pump Up Trout Numbers

Anglers who think the fishing was not up to snuff on Montana’s Clark Fork River this year won’t get an argument from state biologists.

“The density of rainbow trout should be much higher than it is, given the habitat,” said Dennis Workman, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department fisheries biologist in Missoula.

Surprisingly, Workman doesn’t think the trout population is much different from last year.

“The prolonged period of high water made fishing more difficult this year, but I haven’t seen a change in the fish population,” he said.

Unfortunately, that’s because trout tallies have been low for years.

“The numbers of fish are not what they should be,” Workman said. “We feel the trout populations are heavily effected by metals. This river does not produce to its potential because of it.”

The agency apparently has not had the staff or money to make definitive documentation of the impact on the fish from heavy metals that spill each spring from Milltown Dam. The copper, cadmium and zinc are a legacy of the Anaconda Copper Company’s heyday near Butte. The toxic metals collect in silt behind the dam from the Superfund site at the river’s headwaters near Anaconda.

“The Clark Fork compares favorably in all parameters of productivity with the Yellowstone and other famous Montana trout rivers, but it falls short in fish populations,” Workman said. “We should be looking at a couple thousand fish per mile, and we only have 500 in the best stretches.”

While ridding the watershed of mine waste is beyond the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department’s capability, the agency has proposed new fishing regulations that at least should please the still-growing numbers of fly fishers that flock to the river.

Current regs allow anglers to keep five trout, only one of which can be over 16 inches.

The proposal calls for a three-fish limit with no trout over 15 inches on the entire Clark Fork River.

The rule change was given a tentative nod by the state Fish and Game Commission on Friday. Anglers will have until Oct. 24 to comment. A meeting is likely to be scheduled in Superior, Mont., in late September.

In the 1980s, the limit on the Clark Fork was 10 fish or 10 pounds and one fish - an almost sinful expectation by today’s standards.

“We’re seeing quite a change in clientele on the Clark Fork,” Workman said. “The trend is to a lot more fly fishing, a lot more voluntary catch and release and a lot less harvesting.

“I’m always surprised at the number of angler days the Clark Fork supports,” he said. “If everyone was keeping his limit out there, we’d be out of fish in no time.”

Deep thoughts: Anglers who had dismal luck catching Clark Fork trout this summer may have missed the boat by not changing their ways.

Workman believes the scouring action of this year’s floods ultimately will enhance the habitat for insects that feed trout. In the short run, however, the activity of insects on the surface was subdued this season.

“I think the fish were there, but even in the evening, anglers needed to shift gears from dry flies and go with muddlers and other sub-surface flies,” he said. “On these kinds of years, the fish just don’t look up as much.”

Conservation Futures update: Environmental engineer Jeff Lambert and Wyn Birkenthal from the Spokane County Parks and Recreation Department will show a slide presentation on the Spokane County Conservation Futures Program tonight at 7 at REI.

The program is important for local outdoor recreation and wildlife habitat. County residents will vote in November on whether to continue the tax that funds the program.

Barbed proposal: Idaho anglers are polarized on the Fish and Game Department’s proposal to eliminate barbless hook requirements statewide.

Nine studies throughout the nation have indicated there’s little difference in the survival rates of fish released after being caught with barbed as compared with fish landed with barbless hooks.

“Some anglers are concerned about the effect the change would have on sturgeon,” said Ned Horner, the agency’s regional fisheries manager in Coeur d’Alene. “The rest of the opposition comes from ardent fly fishers.”

Horner confesses to being “somewhat neutral” on the proposal. “Personally, I feel there’s less handling and quicker release without barbs, but that hasn’t been demonstrated in research.”

Oregon officials dropped barbless hook requirements this year, arguing they didn’t want to enforce an angling restriction that couldn’t be supported with research.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal at its Oct. 2-3 meeting in Boise.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Rich Landers by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5508.

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