Rivers closed to fishing

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

For the first time in memory, state biologists are closing two Montana rivers to angling before the fishing season even starts.

Drought has reduced a 19-mile stretch of the upper Bighole and a 57-mile stretch of the Red Rock River to a fraction of their average flows. They will remain closed when the general fishing season opens Saturday, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced Thursday.

"This is startlingly early" for a closure, said Bruce Rich, FWP fisheries manager in Bozeman.

Both of those streams have been closed a number of times as drought continues to plague southwestern Montana, but the shutdowns don't usually come until July.

"This is really an abnormal situation for this time of year," Rich said.

He described the closures as "open ended," meaning they will last until there is enough water to let people fish there without putting fish populations at further risk.

In an average year, both of those streams would be running at about 300 cubic feet per second in mid-May.

This year, they each carry a trickle of only 5 to 6 cubic feet per second.

Prospects for improvement look bleak, and the problems could spread.

According to the U.S. Natural Resource and Conservation Service Web site, as of Thursday, all major southwest Montana drainages are well below their 30-year averages, both in terms of remaining snowpack and overall precipitation.

The Jefferson River drainage, which includes the Big Hole and Red Rock, has 46 percent of average snowpack and 78 percent of average overall precipitation, measured since Oct. 1, 2003.

The Madison River drainage is at 61 percent of average snowpack and 83 percent of average precipitation.

The Gallatin River has 42 percent of average snowpack and 75 percent of average precipitation.

And the upper Yellowstone River is at 38 percent of average snowpack and 74 percent of average precipitation.

"It's looking like a tough year," Rich said. "Real tough."

The Big Hole and Red Rock drainages are part of an area that suffers the "most severe drought in the United States," Rich said.

Irrigators on those streams are cutting back on their usage, hoping to save water both for fish and for stock watering later in the year, Rich said.

The closures affect the upper Big Hole from the Rock Creek Road to the mouth of the North Fork of the Bighole, and the Red Rock between Lima Dam and Clark Canyon Reservoir, both of which are very low.

Releasing more water from the Lima Dam would be only a temporary aid, Rich said, adding that he doesn't expect the snow and rain of the past couple days to help much.

"It'll be maybe a week or two of relief, and that's about it," he predicted.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com

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