Anglers fish the Missouri River near Craig in July.
Anglers fish the Missouri River near Craig on Thursday morning.
Anglers fish the Missouri River near Craig on Thursday morning.
Anglers fish the Missouri River near Craig on Thursday morning.
Hoot-owl fishing restrictions were lifted Tuesday by state officials on 35 miles of the Missouri River between Holter Dam and the Cascade city boat ramp.
Under the restrictions, fishing was not allowed from 2 p.m. to midnight each day. But improving environmental conditions have allowed Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to lift them, officials said. The restrictions were put in place on July 20. They were meant to keep anglers from stressing fish already struggling with warm water and low oxygen levels.
Chris Strainer, owner of CrossCurrents Fly Shop in Craig, was happy with the news.
“I think it’s a good thing,” he said, adding as long as the biologists at the state fisheries approved. He thought the restrictions would be in place until mid-September, but forecasts of milder weather seemed to move that up.
Strainer said it did not have a negative impact on his business as they compensated by trying to get anglers out fishing by 6 a.m., instead of 7 a.m.
“We had to get up earlier,” he said, adding “the only drawback was that we couldn’t fish after work.”
Strainer and another operator said fishing slows down around 1 p.m. anyway.
FWP said at the time the restrictions were implemented because the flow below Holter Dam was near the 10th percentile for the daily average. It also said temperatures recorded throughout the section had exceeded 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
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