Mo River Snow and Flow 4.6.18 (by Montana Fishing Outfitters)
By angelamontana

Posted: April 6, 2018

Montana Fishing Outfitters’ Taylor and Garrett recently attended the annual meeting of the Upper Missouri Water Advisory Group.  As guides and outfitters, they found a lot of the information shared to be quite relevant.  Here is what they reported on the fish aspect:

Missouri River Fish

Every year the Montana FWP Biologist for the Mo presents their annual fish survey data to the public. They take samples from two areas on the river, Craig and Cascade. The data is as follows:

CRAIG SECTION(WOLF CREEK BRIDGE TO CRAIG FAS)

  • 4,936 Rainbow trout per mile with a large age class in the 16-18 inch range.
  • 576 Brown trout per mile with an average size in the 12-15 inch range.

CASCADE SECTION(2 MILES ABOVE AND BELOW PELICAN POINT FAS)

  • 1,592 Rainbow trout per mile.
  • 387 Brown trout per mile with a large age class in the 15-18 inch range.
  • 20 Brown trout per mile in the 20-24 inch age class.

Essentially, our fish population on the Missouri below Holter Damcontinue to hold steady at nothing short of amazing. All the fish counts are either at or way above the long term average and there are a large amount of big fish. There is also data supporting a smaller age class of fish which bodes well for the future of the fishery. For more information on our fish populations, the Helena IR did a recent article re-capping all data presented by Montana FWP.

To read their full report on the afternoon meeting, click here.

(feature photo via Montana Fishing Outfitters)
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