A Giant Step to Relish

MTU found out April 9 that a 13" rainbow trout fitted with a radio tag swam from below Milltown Dam into the Blackfoot River today. This is the first documented instance of a fish moving from below the dam site to above it since the coffer dam built for removing the power house was breached almost two weeks ago. And thus it is the official "first fish" to migrate up the Clark Fork and into the upper river or Blackfoot since before the dam was constructed in 1906.  Pretty cool.

Bar-B-Q Cook Off

Benefiting: Wolf Creek / Craig Fire Service Area and the Montana Game Warden Association.

When: Saturday, May 17th, public participation, sampling and eating will start at 12 noon.

Where: Izaak's Restaurant in Craig, MT.

Cost: Event tickets $10.00 for adults and $7.00 for ages 10-15. Children under 10 may attend for free.

Informational booths manned by Montana Game Warden Association Representatives and Area Fire Service Representatives. Fire Trucks, Tip-Mont Trailer and Jolly Jumper will be on site.

Bring the family, enjoy mouth watering BBQ and meet the area top BBQ cooks. Live music all day. No need to plan dinner if you're traveling to Holter Lake or the Missouri River to recreate.

Any BBQ contestant should contact john@izaaks.com or call 235-3456 for entry/rules information. Cash prizes available.

Contact: Bruce Auchly                                                                        (406) 454-5840

Missouri and Smith River
Rainbow Trout Numbers Good

Recently completed rainbow trout estimates on the Smith and Missouri rivers indicate healthy fish populations, a state fisheries biologist says. “Despite near record low flows in the Missouri River in 2007 (“Flows in the Missouri in 2007 were about 30 percent below the long-term average) , the trout numbers are remarkably good,” says Grant Grisak, Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries biologist. Near the town of Craig, Grisak estimates about 3,789 rainbow trout per mile, which is 129 percent of the 26-year average. “This is the fourth highest year for rainbow trout on record,” Grisak says.

See the Historical Numbers (pdf file)

Rainbow populations are counted in the fall, brown trout in the spring. In the Missouri, biologists count trout 10 inches and larger; in the Smith it’s 8 inches and larger. Back in May, Grisak estimated brown trout in the Craig section at 777 per mile, also the fourth highest on record.

The number of rainbow trout just upstream from the town of Cascade was also slightly above average at 1,594 per mile. Brown trout are at 170 percent of average at 594 per mile.

In the Smith River, trout numbers were not as high as the Missouri, but also not as low as they could have been considering the water conditions this year, Grisak says. Low flows and high water temperature prompted FWP this year to close the Smith River to fishing.
“Both rainbow and brown trout numbers are lower, but certainly within the historic range,” Grisak says. Rainbow trout in the Eagle Creek section were estimated at 291 per mile, which is slightly less than the past three years. Brown trout were estimated at 254 per mile, which is about 70 percent of average.  "We observed an unusually high number of 6- to 8-inch rainbows in the Eagle Creek section,” Grisak says. “That’s not what we would have expected following the harsh conditions in the Smith in recent years".

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