BRTU E-News
Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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#264: Sept. 18, 2022
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BRTU Meetings to Resume in October at the Elks. |
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The Art of Monte Dolack - Vision-Myth-Mystery. There will be a drawing for a copy at the Oct 20 meeting. Source: Monte Dolack Fine Art. |
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The speakers are set, the dates are decided and we now have the meeting site reserved. All the BRTU General meetings listed below will be held at the Hamilton Elks Lodge at 203 State Street in Hamilton.
The meetings will kick off at 7:00, but everyone is welcome to come about 6:30 in order to have a beer, schmooze with the speaker, and swap yarns with friends.
Each meeting this year will feature a special drawing. For the October 20 meeting, the prize will be a copy of The Art of Monte Dolack - Vision-Myth-Mystery. This is a new hard cover book that collects more than 180 well known and privately held pieces of artwork by this uniquely Montana artist.
The current schedule of programs, subject to change, is
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Thursday, October 20, 2022- Brant Oswald. Paradise Valley After the Flood.
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Thursday, November 17, 2022 - Morgan Case, Trout Unlimited In-Stream Flow Specialist. Saving Trout with a Lawbook.
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Thursday, January 19, 2023 - Casey Hackathorn, Trout Unlimited Upper Clark Fork Program Manager. Restoring Native Trout to the Upper Clark Fork.
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Thursday, February 16, 2023 - Birch Fett. Secure River Golden Dorado.
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March 2023 - No meeting. BRTU Banquet and Auction.
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Thursday April 20, 2023. Jason Lindstrom, MFWP. Bitterroot River Report.
Be sure to mark these dates on your calendar now! The public is invited to attend all BRTU events and there is no charge for admission.
More details will be provided in the newsletter as the meetings approach. For additional information, please contact Marshall Bloom or Dave Ward.
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Comment on the Proposed 2023-2024 Montana Fishing Regs. |
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Two anglers argue over a nice catch! The one in the cap has to comply with the regs, the other less so. Courtesy: BRTU. |
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One thing that always stirs a lot of excitement is talk of fishing regulations - they are always simultaneously too strict and too relaxed, as well as too complicated and too simple, etc, etc, etc. Usually all of these things are a little bit true, but for sure they can be a challenge to wade through!
Montana TU Executive Director David Brooks has compiled this excellent and concise overview of the proposed 2023-2024 Fishing Regs for TU members and included information on how to comment on-line.
Dear MTU Supporter,
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is undergoing the now biennial review of fishing regulations and has proposed changes for the 2023-24 seasons. We support the vast majority of the proposed regulations and encourage our members and the public to get involved in the process.
While FWP is hosting a series of Open Houses around the state, with opportunities to ask questions, we strongly recommend that interested citizens submit formal comments on issues they care about. Comments will be accepted until September 22, 2022 at 5pm. Here is where you can see the complete list of the proposed changes and opportunities to comment online on each proposal.
Here are 5 things TU is happy to see and supports in the new proposed regulations:
1. Fighting Illegal Introductions - Many of the proposed changes strengthen FWP's commitment to proactively managing against illegal fish introductions. We support the efforts to suppress fish populations, like walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass, that have resulted from those illegal introductions.
2. Stopping Illegal Bait Transport and AIS - Fishing regulations, particularly around live and dead bait, are an important tool in combating the spread of aquatic invasive species. Several proposals offered here provide strong protections in that regard. We support all efforts to combat aquatic invasive species from entering our waterways.
3. Conserving Sustainable Wild Trout Fisheries - Based on sound scientific research conducted by FWP, a number of proposals seek to support natural reproduction in southwest Montana reservoirs by protecting spawning fish in tributaries through the third Saturday in May. We support efforts to create sustainable, wild populations of fish.
4. Protections for Struggling SW MT Wild Trout - Faced with troubling declines in trout populations in many southwest Montana rivers, FWP biologists have developed a science-based, data driven approach to managing fisheries on the Ruby, Beaverhead, and Big Hole rivers. These are adaptive strategies that will evolve as the fish populations rebound, but we support the current more restrictive regulations proposed on these rivers. Further we appreciate the ability to learn from these proposals as to what types of regulations may help support fish population recovery.
5. Expanding Angler Opportunity - We are supportive of efforts to expand angler opportunity and harvest where appropriate, namely in several put-and-take fisheries and lakes that experience frequent over-winter kills.
We hope all interested members of the public take the opportunity to get involved in this important process. So, take a minute and submit a comment. If you have any questions, please reach out to us directly at info@montanatu.org.
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Get Your Feet Wet on Lost Horse Creek on October 8. |
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UM Grad Student Brett Oliver doing some field work. Source: U. Montana. |
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Dr. Payton Gardner doing some measurements on a stream slightly larger than Lost Horse Creek. Source: U. Montana. |
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Dr. Payton Gardner, Associate Professor of Hydrogeology at UM and the Associate Editor of The Journal of Hydrology at UM received a grant for continuous recording flow measurement devices on Lost Horse, Mill and Bass Creeks. The devices will be placed on US Forest Service property.
Thanks to Michael Howell of the Bitterroot River Protection Association, BRTU members have been invited on October 8 for a morning of stream gaging on Lost Horse Creek west of Hamilton. The goal for the day is to provide informal instruction on how to measure stream flow in Lost Horse Creek and to have a conversation about the science that UM is conducting in the Bitterroot.
UM Geoscience Grad Student Brett Oliver will be the instructor. Brett is studying watershed hydrology in the Bitterroot Mountains.
Volunteers should plan to meet at Red Rooster in Hamilton between 7:30 and 8:00 am on Saturday, October 8. This will give us all a chance to introduce ourselves.
At 8:00 AM, we will caravan to the gaging site on Lost Horse Creek. The gage is right where the road crosses a bridge to Lick Creek and Lake Como; the drive takes ~20 minutes. Once at the site Brett will introduce the project and provide instruction on how to do stream gage measurements. Stream gaging will take about 2 hours and we will try to leave the site by 11 am. People familiar with the location can simply drive there directly.
The site on Lost Horse Creek is also just above a fish screen that the Clark Fork Coalition is installing on a diversion, so the data from this site may be extremely useful.
Please bring the following items:
- water
- sunscreen
- snack
- waders and wading boots (if you have them, if not we will still provide an educational experience from the banks)
- warm base layers (especially if wading: a fleece, long underwear, a change of socks)
- appropriate outerwear
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A nice spot on Kootenai Creek. Courtesy: Seth Cooley |
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This issue's Picture of the Week was provided by TU supporter and ardent angler, Seth Cooley. Seth seems to be only person sending any photos these days.
Seth took this photo while wading up Kootenai Creek yesterday. The complexity of the habitat, which does include some wood, is evident at these low floes, but the photo gives an idea of what the fishing can be like on some of our small westside streams. The fish also tend to run small, like the 3 1/2" cutthroat Seth was catching, but if you are intrepid enough to get away from the trail without twisting your ankle, there are some surprises in store.
In addition, if some of the more ominous but increasingly likely climate scenarios play out, these small tributaries may be our lifelines to continued angling.
Please send me any fishing or conservation related photos to be considered for the "Picture of the Week." Make sure that the files are less than 5 mB in size. Note that in most cases I plan to not to use "grip and grin" photos, but rather pictures of fish in the water or net.
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This week's BRTU Puzzler was submitted by Otis B. Driftwood from Hamilton. Mr. Driftwood was hiking near Baker Lake when his partner, Mrs. Claypool, noticed this specimen in the duff near the falls between Baker and Middle Lake. They had to return for a night at the opera and did not have time to look for additional ones.
The Puzzler is to identify the specimen with both the common and binomial designation, and to describe how it got its common name.
The first person to make a correct identification will win the BRTU Puzzler.
The BRTU Puzzler now has a new sponsor - Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton. Chapter One is offering a $10 gift card to each winner but it must be picked up in person. The book store is a long time BRTU supporter and has an unbelievable inventory of books and magazines. If Chapter One doesn't have the tome you want, they can get it in a jiffy. Shouldn't we be patronizing local small independents rather the big online services?
If you have a cool fishing, outdoor activity, or conservation related photo, consider submitting it to BRTU Puzzlemaster Marshall Bloom for the BRTU Puzzler. BRTU E-News will no longer publish grip and grin photos of native fish out of water but will highlight photos of actual fish in the water.
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Monte Dolack BRTU prints
now available at Joe's Studio.
A small number of Publisher's Proofs of the limited edition "Bitterroot River-Lost Horse Bend" by Monte Dolack are now available at Joe's Studio. BRTU commissioned Monte Dolack in 2007 to create this iconic print of the Bitterroot River.
The remaining Publisher's Proofs are $375 and all proceeds support BRTU efforts to protect trout and streams.
Joe's Studio, a regular sponsor of our banquets, is located in Hamilton at 220 Marcus Street (961-4586, joesstudio@aol.com)
The "U" in BRTU
Unlike many groups, BTRU has no paid staff. We are an entirely volunteer organization. We are always looking for new members to get involved in projects or to join our board and assist with maintaining our focus on native fish, clean healthy streams and education. If you would like to help out, please contact BRTU Chapter President Dave Ward. We could sure use your help!
In other words, how about putting a little "U" in BRTU?
If "U" are not already a member, "U" can join TU today by going to the the BRTU website. chapter number is #080. If you have a question about your membership, please call the Montana TU office at 406-543-0054.
The BRTU Mission statement is "To conserve, protect, and restore the Bitterroot River and it's watershed," directly in line with the Montana TU mission statement.
For your information, here is a tabulation of our current hard-working BRTU officers and board members.
BOARD OFFICERS
Donna Haglund; Vice President; E-mail: haglunddonna@gmail.com
Vacant, Treasurer;
BOARD MEMBERS
Charlie Harris; E-mail: hmgharris@gmail.com
JuliAnne Thomas; E-mail: thomasjulianneh@gmail.com
Vacant; (student board member)
GENERAL FACTOTUM AND NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER
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