Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comments on proposed fishing regulation changes, which will be finalized by the FWP Commission at its meeting in October. These changes will be effective for the 2008-2012 period. Public comments are encouraged and should be made by Sept. 14 by emailing fwpfsh@mt.gov <mailto:fwpfsh@mt.gov> . In Kalispell, a public meeting will be held on Thursday, September 6 from 7-9 p.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks headquarters on North Meridian Road in Kalispell. At the meeting, anglers will be able to comment on proposed regulations. A complete description of the proposed changes statewide is available at FWP’s web site, specifically at <http://fwp.mt.gov/fishing/default.html> . Here are some of the proposals that affect fishing in FWP’s Region 1: --Whitefish Statewide Standard Limit Present : 100 daily and in possession Proposed : 20 daily and 40 in possession Rationale: drought has reduced abundance of this native fish. Lake whitefish limits (100) in Flathead Lake and River will not change. --Blanchard Lake Bass Present : bass: catch and release Proposed : 1 bass daily and in possession, must be over 22” Rationale: bass still need protection but this will allow harvest of a few trophy fish --Flathead River Northern Pike Present : closed to pike harvest December 1 to 3 rd Saturday in May Proposed : Extended northern pike harvest season December 1 through February 28 Rationale: allows some increased pike harvest to help native trout. Closes in spring as prespawn bull trout stage in lower river. River summer season and sloughs will not change. --Frank Lake Rainbow Present : 5 daily and 10 in possession, only 1 over 22” Proposed : Catch and release for rainbow trout in northwest ¼ of lake as posted, March 15 to May 1. Rationale: Anglers are able to heavily harvest spawning rainbows in spring as they stage along the shoreline, reducing fishing quality the rest of the year. --Lake Koocanusa Kokanee Present : salmon: 35 daily and 70 in possession Proposed : salmon: 50 daily and 100 in possession Rationale: kokanee are naturally reproducing and overabundant. This will allow anglers to take advantage of the surplus and might help kokanee growth a little. --Little Bitterroot Lake Kokanee Present : salmon: 20 daily and 40 in possession Proposed : salmon: 20 daily and 40 in possession, no more than 10 daily and 20 in possession over 14” Rationale: A small portion of the kokanee have switched to a Mysis diet and are growing to 14”-20”. Some anglers are keying in on these fish and reducing their abundance. This will spread harvest of larger salmon between anglers and will maintain spawning numbers to see if this trait is genetically passed along. --Tally Lake Lake Trout Present : lake trout: 10 daily and in possession Proposed : lake trout: 1 daily and in possession, must be over 42 inches Rationale: Tally Lake has a small population of trophy lake trout that are vulnerable to overharvest. Many big fish are 20-35 years old. This will maintain this quality fishery. --Thompson River Trout Present : Combined trout: 3 daily and in possession, 3 less than 10 inches or 2 less than 10 inches and 1 over 18 inches. Proposed : Combined trout: 3 daily and in possession, brown trout any size, rainbow trout no more than 3 less than 10 inches or 2 less than 10 inches and 1 over 18 inches. Rationale: brown trout have withstood drought and angling harvest better than other trout. This opens up more harvest opportunity for browns and reduces competition with rainbow, cutthroat and bull trout. A Comment sheet for these and other Region 1 regulations is available by calling FWP at 752-5501. Anglers can also stop by the FWP office in Kalispell and pick up a copy of the comment sheet.
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