Montana FWP Responds to Big Hole Trout Decline

The declining trout populations in the Big Hole, Ruby, and Beaverhead Rivers in southern Montana has much of the fly fishing community concerned. In an effort to try and find solutions to the problem, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) has announced the launch of several research efforts.

According to a press release, FWP plans to launch a “four-pronged approach” in conjunction with Montana State University. That approach includes:

• A fish mortality study on the Big Hole, Beaverhead, and Ruby Rivers, as well as the Madison. FWP will tag fish to assess how “flows, water temperatures, angling and disease influence survival,” per the press release.
• A juvenile fish study that will “focus on developing a better understanding of trout recruitment and the relative contributions of tributary spawning areas to mainstem trout populations.”
• A fish health study that will “examine the level that disease is impacting fish populations.”
• Increasing fish health monitoring resources, including “the new web portal sickfish.mt.gov.”

The hope is that the information gathered from these efforts will inform solutions and help us save the trout populations in these revered rivers.