Anglers, grab your gear—but you might need to check your GPS first.
Word is that the North Dakota Game and Fish Department just did something historic. For the first time ever, they have officially stocked tiger trout directly into the Missouri River, right south of the Garrison Dam.
Now, full disclosure: we know this isn’t technically happening in Montana. But hey, it’s happening in the Missouri River just over in our neighboring state, which is close enough for a road trip excuse, right?
If you aren’t familiar with the tiger trout, it’s essentially the mad-science experiment of the fish world. They are a sterile hybrid—a cross between a female brown trout and a male brook trout. Because they can’t reproduce, they spend less energy worrying about the dating pool and more time growing aggressively large and sporting some of the most striking, maze-like stripes you’ll ever see on a fish.
While Montana fly-fishers love their local streams, North Dakota’s move, with the help of Wyoming, just added a very shiny, very striped wildcard to the Missouri River ecosystem. If you’ve been looking for a reason to pack up the truck and explore a different stretch of the Missouri, this hybrid might just be your sign.
Happy fishing—whichever side of the state line you land on!
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