Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks closed one section of the Madison River to fishing and expanded hoot-owl restrictions to six more river segments across southwest Montana this week, all in force as of Wednesday, July 15. The new hoot-owl restrictions took effect at 2 p.m. the same day.
The closure runs from Madison Dam at Ennis Reservoir downstream to the footbridge at the NorthWestern Energy powerhouse, at the head of Bear Trap Canyon. FWP attributes the shutdown to warm outflows from Ennis Reservoir that are preventing nighttime cooling in that section of the river.
The new hoot-owl restrictions, which prohibit fishing from 2 p.m. to midnight daily, cover two sections of the Big Hole (Saginaw Bridge on Skinner Meadows Road to the North Fork confluence, and Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site to the Beaverhead confluence), the lower Gallatin from Cameron Bridge Road to the Missouri confluence, the entire East Gallatin, the entire Jefferson, a new stretch of the lower Madison from the NorthWestern Energy powerhouse footbridge to the Jefferson confluence (extending an existing hoot-owl already in place downstream from Warm Springs Fishing Access Site), and the lower Ruby from Duncan District Road to the Beaverhead confluence.
The July 15 action follows a July 10 FWP announcement that put hoot-owl restrictions on the Sun River, the Madison above Hebgen Reservoir, the lower Madison from Warm Springs Fishing Access Site to the Jefferson confluence, and the lower Beaverhead. Those took effect July 11. FWP maintains a live map of current restrictions and closures.
FWP’s drought policy triggers restrictions when stream flows drop below critical levels for fish, when water quality declines, or when maximum daily water temperatures hit 73 degrees for three consecutive days.
TU Weighs In
Six days before the FWP announcement, Trout Unlimited’s Montana Water Director Patrick Byorth flagged heat stress on the Gallatin at Cameron Bridge, one of the reaches now under hoot-owl. Speaking to montanarightnow.com on July 9, Byorth said: “Catch and release mortality really ramps up above 68 degrees or 70 degrees. So, even though you might think that releasing a fish is a good thing, chances are that fish has a decreased chance at surviving, even if you handle it perfectly.”
The restrictions carry no scheduled sunset and stay in place until FWP judges conditions have improved. In the meantime, the agency is pointing anglers to larger lakes and reservoirs, or higher-elevation lakes and streams.
