As the 2026 paddlefish season wraps up on Montana’s rivers, MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks is checking in with the anglers who lived it. Biologists will phone a random sample of Yellowstone River yellow-tag holders and upper Missouri River white harvest-tag holders, while every lower Missouri River green-tag holder and every Fort Peck Dredge Cuts blue-tag holder can expect a call from a Helena FWP number.
New this year, some upper Missouri snag-and-release-only tag holders and Yellowstone yellow-tag holders will instead get an online survey by email from montanafwp@announcements.mt.gov. Either way, the questions are the same and quick — how you fished, how hard you worked for it, and how the season treated you — and they’ll try three times to reach you before moving on.
Even if you never made it to the river this year, your response matters: those blank years are data too. What anglers report goes straight to the fisheries biologists who manage one of Montana’s most unique and hard-earned fishing traditions, helping keep paddlefish runs healthy for the seasons ahead. Questions? Call FWP at 406-444-4017.
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