Are the Flathead’s Native Fish “Stable”?
There has been a lot of lecturing lately by opponents of native fish recovery regarding the misuse of the terms “stable” and “secure” They seem to feel that if they can unilaterally declare that the fish populations in Flathead Lake are “stable” or “secure” there will be no need...
“Woefully Unprepared”
The Natural Resources Defense Council has released a report on how well states are preparing to meet the challenges of how climate change will affect their water resources. Ready or Not: How Water-Ready is Your State? So how ready is Montana? Unfortunately, we rank in the bottom of the...
Genetic vulnerability to downriggers
I was intrigued by this blog post by Singlebarbed on a paper studying the heritability of susceptibility to angling by fish populations. It sounded interesting, so I looked up the paper. http://tinyurl.com/7b9lkpt The study was done on largemouth bass, but there is no reason to suspect that it could...
Fact Sheet on the Flathead Lake Fishery
The following is a fact sheet concerning the current state of the Flathead fishery compiled by Flathead Valley TU and Montana TU to answer questions and misinformation about the system. What is the problem with the fishery at Flathead Lake and the upper Flathead River system? Non-native and highly...
Non-native trout continue to threaten Flathead Lake
(The following is an editorial printed in the Missoulian on March 23 by FVTU President Chris Schustrom and MTU Executive Director Bruce Farling.) By Chris Schustrom and Bruce Farling This spring native westslope cutthroat and bull trout will stage for their epic journeys from Flathead Lake to spawning streams...
Sam’s farewell to bull trout
The Spring 2012 issue of Back Porch View, a self-published Bigfork quarterly, came out this week. On page 24 there is a good article by Sam Stone, owner of Valley Wide Seakayaking Adventures and native Montanan. The article is titled Farewell to an old friend: The end to fishing...
Quartz Creek Barrier
The National Park Service needs your help. They recently released the environmental analysis for modification and improvement of the fish barrier on Quartz Creek in Glacier National Park. In 2005, Quartz Lake was believed to be the largest water body in the park that had not been invaded by...
War On Pike
There was an interesting story in the Spokesman Review this morning about the State of Washington’s declared war on Northern Pike (Esox lucious) in Box Canyon Reservoir and the lower Pend Oreille River. As part of an aggressive campaign to reduce pike numbers, the state of Washington, Department of...
Hatchery vs. Wild the debate continues
As a fisherman and member of Trout Unlimited, I hear a question asked on a regular basis to the effect, “If our trout populations are declining, why don’t we just supplement with hatchery fish?” That a question like that could even be asked given our history with hatchery fish...
Hopeful signs for native fish recovery
Idaho Fish and Game has released their 2011 fishery updates for the Panhandle region of the state and the news provides hope and some guidance for restoration of native fish in the Flathead. The Lake Pend Oreille Recovery Update shows “lots of indications that the recovery effort is heading...