fishing

The National Weather Service is forecasting a powerful windstorm across much of Montana Friday. Wind speeds between between 20 and 30 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph are predicted.; Wildlife officials are reminding anglers of seasonal fishing closures in the Jefferson Basin.

State wildlife officials Friday lifted fishing restrictions on a section of the Big Hole River.

Fishing restrictions and closures will be lifted this weekend on several southwest Montana streams.

A bill that would allow hunters and anglers to donate to the rural communities they often pass through is making its way through the state’s House of Representative.

The Big Hole Watershed Committee warned the public a week ago such measures were likely possible. Sections of the river from headwaters to North Fork Big Hole River and from Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site to the river mouth have dropped below acceptable flow levels.

The Big Hole Watershed Committee said Monday that a section of the river from the headwaters to the North Fork Big Hole River and another from the Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site to the river mouth are nearing flows low enough to trigger the voluntary conservation measures.

Wildlife officials today implemented fishing restrictions on parts of the Smith and Sun rivers. Low water flows and high temperatures will prohibit fishing from 2 p.m. to midnight.

The annual restriction bars fishing between 2 p.m. and midnight from the dam at Ennis Lake to the confluence with the Jefferson River each between July 15 and August 15. The Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a meeting for public comment on the issue Thursday.

The lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t properly assess the impact of a rule opening 2.3 million acres in the National Wildlife Refuge system to hunting and fishing.

Where there are stressed fish, there are stressed fishing guides. As Montana and much of the west feel the effects of persistent drought, those with a line in the future of the state’s fisheries are navigating high temperatures, low flow and closures across the state.