Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is collecting early public input for setting the 2016-2019 Montana fishing regulations and will host a public open house May 14 in Missoula.
FWP’s Region 2 Fisheries Manager, Pat Saffel, says that every four years FWP does a comprehensive review of the fishing regulations and proposes changes as needed.
“Early public scoping, which is what we are doing right now, is one of the first phases of this process,” Saffel says. “We use that input as part of our considerations in putting tentative fishing regulations together this summer.”
Tentative fishing regulations are presented to the Fish and Wildlife Commission in early August. These fishing regulation “tentatives” are then publicly vetted in September and finalized by the Fish and Wildlife Commission in early October.
Anglers that want to weigh in on the fishing regulations early in the process can provide new ideas and review potential proposed changes now. Review and comment through May 31 at fwp.mt.gov by following links to “Submit Public Comment” and “Fishing.”
A public scoping open house is also scheduled for Missoula on Thursday, May 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the FWP Missoula office, 3201 Spurgin Road.
Proposals that FWP is considering for the Western Fishing district include:
· Standardizing the size restriction for cutthroat trout in streams and rivers and Wilderness areas.
· Reducing the harvest limit and placing a size restriction on brook trout in Georgetown Lake.
· Increasing kokanee harvest limits in Lake Alva, Lake Inez and Seeley Lake.
· Opening a reach from the Lake Alva outlet to Lake Inez to kokanee snagging.
· Applying Western District standard regulations instead of catch and release for bass in Lake Alva, Lake Inez and Salmon Lake as well as the Clearwater River downstream of the Salmon Lake outlet.
· Standardizing several size and harvest limits on trout to eliminate unnecessary exceptions and simplify regulations.
Weigh in on these early ideas and submit your own at fwp.mt.gov. For information, contact Saffel at 542-5507.