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Orvis brings Down The Hatch event to Caras Park

Attendees from the 2016 Down The Hatch Event take advantage of the free fly-fishing lessons to practice their cast. By down the hatch

Help kick off Missoula’s downtown

festival season with Orvis’ very own Down the Hatch (DTH) festival in Caras Park on Saturday, April 29. The festival features free fly-fishing lessons and competition between flyfishing guides from all over the western United States, plus Orvis’s international fishing film festival, where all proceeds from tickets go to a local conservation

group dedicated to improving the lives of all who enjoy the wonderful resources surrounding Missoula. DTH also encompasses everything Missoulian’s love during the warm months other than fishing: good music from Tom Catmull and up and coming band Milltown Damn (featuring Pete Barrett one of the original Lil’ Smokies), beer from Big Sky Brewery (which tickets support local fishery projects for WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited),

food and activities for kids. After a day in the park, join the migration over to The Wilma, where the film fest kicks off at 7 p.m. Tickets include an entry into a raffle where prizes include new Orvis equipment, gear from Down the Hatch friends and the grand prize – a trip at an undisclosed worldclass destination. Proceeds from the 2017 Down the Hatch beer and film festival tickets will go toward installing modern irrigation

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DETAILS

When: Saturday, April 29 • Caras Park Festivities noon-6:30 p.m. FREE • Film festival at the Wilma 7 p.m.

Tickets must be purchased in advance at the Top Hat, online or by phone 877-987-6487

• Down the Hatch After Party 10 p.m. at the Top Hat Lounge Free

Music by Ryan Chrys & the Rough Cuts

Photos provided by Orvis photographer Jessica McGlothlin

Kicking Plastic

fish screens on the six irrigation ditches on lower Rattlesnake Creek. Rattlesnake Creek is an important spawning tributary of the Clark Fork River and each year thousands of juvenile and adult west slope cutthroat, brown, rainbow and bull trout become entrapped in these ditches. These special screens, which use the latest technology and are self-cleaning, will result

in an almost immediate improvement in the numbers of fish returning to the Clark Fork to grow and thrive. This effort is part of the chapter’s ongoing work to provide connectivity and successful spawning habitat in the Missoula area. This project also will involve volunteer labor from chapter members.

Down the Hatch has partnered with Costa Del Mar, Yeti, Klean Kanteen, Culligan, Good Food Store and Big Sky Inflatables in making this a kick plastic event. They believe the elimination of disposable water bottles in the outdoor community is paramount for addressing the evergrowing issue of climate change and pollution.

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WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited’s Rattlesnake Creek Fish Passage Campaign

(From left to right) A paddle wheel fish screens runs brushes that clean debris off of the screen, an older Brencail fish screen overflowing during the spring and newly installed “Coanda”-type fish screens allow for upstream fish passage and route irrigation water via pipe. By Mark Kuipers

President, WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Rattlesnake Creek flows for 26 miles,

beginning in the Rattlesnake Wilderness north of Missoula and ending at its confluence with the Clark Fork River. Rattlesnake Creek is one of the major sources of wild trout recruitment for the middle Clark Fork River – the 100mile reach of river located between Missoula and St. Regis. The creek supports populations of native westslope cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish, as well as wild rainbow trout, brown trout, and brook trout. It also hosts a population of bull trout and is one of only four major tributaries in the area known to support migratory bull trout spawning.

The upper portions of Rattlesnake Creek in the wilderness and Rattlesnake Creek National Recreation Area are relatively healthy. However, lower in the valley, the last six miles of Rattlesnake Creek have been straightened and modified over the last 100 years. The creek flows under no less than 5 road bridges, a highway underpass, a railroad bridge, 5 foot bridges and a former water supply dam. As a result, there are few side channels and a lack of complex habitat for fish. Even worse, there are six irrigation ditches that divert water and have historically trapped migratory and juvenile trout. Open irrigation ditches can trap large,

adult fish that are migrating upstream from the Clark Fork River to find spawning areas in Rattlesnake Creek, or smaller juvenile fish that are moving downstream as they grow. This is what we set out to fix. Beginning in 2014, The WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited and TU national started a campaign to protect upstream and downstream fish passage by putting new fish screens on the irrigation diversion structures at all six of these irrigation diversion sites and improve stream habitat. Fish screens are engineering fixes that strain water through slotted steel plates, allowing irrigators to use their traditional water rights, but keep-

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ing fish in the creek where they can thrive. With help from Montana FWP, Lolo National Forest, Missoula Conservation District and local residents, TU put two new fish screen on irrigation diversions in 2015-2016. TU has funded topographic surveys and engineering design documents for four future projects. TU plans to install new fish screens so that all irrigation ditches on Rattlesnake Creek are properly protected. The money raised for the Chapter by the Orvis Guide Rendezvous and the Down the Hatch festival will be used to fund these projects. We are expecting to see dramatic results after these screens are in operation. When completed these screens will allow the fry, small fish and the large spawners to make it to the Clark Fork safely. Equally exciting, while installing the fish screens we are also creating more spawning areas. In fact, the 1,500 feet of side channels created with the two new fish screens are already providing new spawning areas for wild trout. The result is more fish for everyone each and ever year.

The WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited Working to Make a Difference By Mark Kuipers

President, WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited

The WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited is honored to be the designated non-profit for the Orvis Guide Rendezvous and Down the Hatch festival. We are an all-volunteer organization of 1,045 members dedicated to supporting cold water conservation and fly fishing education in the Missoula area. Over the last few years, we have funded over $120,000 for projects on Rattlesnake, Lolo, Deer, Six Mile, Harvey, Ninemile, and many other small streams. Much of our conservation efforts are focused on fish passage and habitat improvement including fish screens, fish ladders, culvert replacements and in-stream improvements. We also donate money and people power for lake trout eradication in Swan Lake, road decommissioning, and partnerships with FWP like acquiring land in Fish Creek and with the Five Valleys Land Trust to protect land on Rock Creek from development. The Chapter supports The Watershed Education Network, The TU Kids Camp on Georgetown Lake and provides scholarships worth $4,000 each year to University of Montana students who are doing research related to our mission. We also support Montana Trout Unlimited, our state organization helping them fight for stream access and

threats to our public resource. From November through April we hold monthly meetings featuring nationally known speakers. These meetings are free and open to the public. The Chapter also provides boots on the ground project support for things like willow tree plantings on Rock Creek, rehab up the Ninemile and netting of invasive fish species on Swan Lake. In 2017 the WestSlope Chapter will put over $100,000 into local projects that will dramatically improve the fishing in the Missoula area. In addition to the Rattlesnake Fish Screens that will be funded through Orvis’ generosity, the Chapter is helping fund fish passage projects on Mill, Lavalle, Marshal and Grant Creeks, riparian planning on the West Fork of Fish Creek, Ninemile mining stream rehabilitation, Kelly Island fishing access repair and other projects in the Missoula area. In addition, the Chapter also has veterans, women’s and kid’s fly fishing and fly tying programs planned for 2017 and beyond. To learn more about The WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited and to get involved go to http://westslope.tu.org and visit us on Facebook.

The Nunya River: Fishing and floating a Montana public lands gem

By Jeff Lukas

Montana Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Chapter Coordinator

Sometimes it’s hard to decide how to enjoy

western Montana’s outdoors. In the springtime, for example, we might ask ourselves, “Do I hunt turkeys in the Bitterroot, hunt black bear up the Blackfoot, or fish on a river teeming with wild trout?” We have it good here in Montana. With more than 27 million acres of public lands in the state, it can be tough to figure out where to go. But for me it’s a no brainer. If it’s a beautiful spring day, I’m going fishing. Recently I hatched a plan with my coworkJeff Lukas showing off his catch on his own personal ers to check out a river that has a short window to float but lots of trout. It involves a bit of Nunya River. a drive, a treacherous float and no boat land- times with a fly rod there, including hatches of ings. It is located almost entirely on remote big bugs and plenty of hungry trout. public lands, flowing clean and swift from our This river is not a complete secret, though. national forests. I have had some of my best Over the last 15 years I have seen a steady

increase in wade fishermen, and I even spotted another raft a couple years ago, but it belonged to a friend who I’d hesitantly invited to float the Nunya River, as in “none of ya business.” I’d been talking up the Nunya a lot to Sawyer and Trey. “We’ll be tossing the big bug to hordes of hungry trout,” I told them. “A good angler can easily land 30 fish in a day.” So it was with dismay that we discovered after driving into the headwaters that my trailer had blown a tire. And I had no spare. Now, back in my guiding days, an oversight like this never would have happened. But in my postguide life, I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff. If you’re not responsible for other people’s fun and safety, you take a more lackadaisical approach to preparation. It may even cause you to forget something as essential as a spare tire when traveling to a remote area.

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Unfazed, we left my hobbled rig and went for a float in pursuit of the epic fishing that I had grown accustomed to on the Nunya. Through gorgeous runs and beautiful cutbanks, we floated our big bugs, dead-drifting them, sometimes twitching them, waiting for that first epic eat. And so we waited. And waited. Rowing through technical boulder fields and frothy whitewater is always fun, but it’s a lot better when the fish are biting. It made it hard not to wonder how on earth we were going to get my spare tire from my house to the middle of nowhere. Of course, we had our shuttle rig at the end of the float, but using it to retrieve the spare would require an almost 3 hour drive home, a 3 hour drive to the upper river, and a 3 hour drive back home. I pushed those thoughts aside so that I could enjoy the scenery. The countryside we were traversing was amazing. Big cliffs from which you could imagine a bighorn sheep surveying his territory. Dark timber that almost certainly held world class bull elk and bears. A high mountain wetland with whitetails that don’t see much human activity. And all of it encompasses accessible public lands owned by every one of us. Our public lands form a common heritage of unquantifiable value. Yet this heritage is in jeopardy. Well-moneyed special interests are committed to divesting citizens of our shared lands and waters, to transferring these places to state ownership (where they likely would be sold) or to private ownership outright. Our float on the Nunya only emphasized to me the importance of America’s public lands. Just about every Montanan has a few places like

this near and dear to our hearts – and we are joining together to stand up for our outdoor traditions. A rally in Helena in January filled the Capitol with passionate defenders of public lands. My group, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, will continue to work with our partners to keep public lands in public hands so that everyone can enjoy their own personal Nunya River. As we finished our float down the river, we started catching more fish. It wasn’t the epic day of fishing that I had hoped for. It might have been better if Trey had set the hook sooner on that big brown trout, but that’s what happens when you have to fish someone else’s rod because you left yours in the shuttle truck. It also would have helped had I not been so distracted by my rig that I ran over quite a few trout with the raft. As always with fly fishing, it’s just as much about the journey as it is the results. Humility goes a long, long ways in this game. After getting to our shuttle rig, we hatched an elaborate plan to fix my flat tire. Needless to say, it required a group effort, including multiple Fix-a-Flats and vehicles leaving different locations and meeting in others. But it concluded with me getting my raft, trailer and truck home at around midnight. Just in time to plan that turkey hunt. Without public lands and access to these special places, journeys like mine would exist only in our imaginations. As we hike and float Montana’s rivers and hike our mountains, valleys and wetlands, we must remember the legacy that we honor each time we pursue our public lands dreams – and we must redouble our efforts to protect and conserve that legacy so that our kids and grandkids can enjoy it.

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Parks and Recreation Hosts Annual Youth Fishing Derby

montana fish wildlife and parks

Kids ages 3 to 14 are invited to Silver’s Lagoon in McCormick Park on May 20 from 9 to 11 a.m. for the annual Parks and Recreation fishing derby. The event is geared for all abilities, and Parks and Recreation provides adaptive equipment so everyone can join in on the fun! Don’t have fishing gear? A limited number of poles are available for use. Kids can win fun prizes for different categories! Youth ages 12–14 need a Montana FWP Conservation license. The $1 registration fee supports youth recreation programs.

Kids and Family Fishing Opportunities Near Missoula – Small Investment, Great Payoff montana fish wildlife and parks

For families and mentors seeking local

fishing fun, access and success are priorities 1 and 2. Within 40 minutes of Missoula several options offer great access and quality fishing. For beginners and kids, public fishing ponds may be the best bet. These ponds are developed

for ease of access and are regularly stocked with catchable-size fish. Three local options are Beavertail Pond (east of Missoula), McCormick Pond (within the City of Missoula), and Frenchtown Pond, (west of Missoula). These public ponds are intended to facilitate shorefishing with limited shoreline vegetation

and abundant foot access. McCormick Pond is managed specifically for kids (14 yrs and younger), but is also handicapped accessible with fishing platforms and a bridge. Harpers Lake is also a good option for those heading toward the Seeley Lake or Ovando areas in the Blackfoot.

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All of these ponds support catchable (8+inch) rainbow and cutthroat trout and most are stocked routinely with retired brood stock (typically 2-10 lbs) from FWP’s Jocko River and Washoe Park Hatcheries. Frenchtown Pond is also planted with adult largemouth bass annually. Although many techniques can be successful when fishing ponds, bait

is usually effective and a good way to keep kids interested…. typically a bobber and worm or power bait set-up will do the trick. As always, remember to check your Montana Fishing Regulations booklet for guidelines on creel limits, etc. For intermediate anglers and those interested in fly fishing, the Bitterroot, Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers pro-

vide outstanding wild trout fishing. The FWP Fishing Access Site (FAS) program provides great public access to all of these rivers in the Missoula area. Frequent outings of short duration may be the best way to introduce kids to river fishing, and local fisheries such as these are great locations to begin with relatively small investment

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Invasive Species News Local boater training, certification now available online

By montana fish wildlife and parks

Local boater training and certification for Tiber and Canyon Ferry Reservoirs can now be done online at musselresponse.mt.gov. The online training course provides participants with information about the invasive mussel threat, how to appropriately clean, drain and dry your watercraft and why it’s important for everyone to take responsibility in protecting Montana’s waterbodies. This year in Montana, watercraft owners can be certified as local boaters at both Tiber and Canyon Ferry to allow them to bypass decontamination stations at the reservoirs after each trip out on the water. Local boater certification is intended for those boaters who intend to boat only at Canyon Ferry or Tiber. Certified local boaters sign an agreement pledging to go through decontamination should they decide to launch in another waterbody. Certification for the local boater programs have been available at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks open houses around the state and now online. The discovery last fall of aquatic invasive mussel larvae in water samples at Tiber Reservoir and a suspect sample from Canyon Ferry Reservoir has led to a multi-faceted, interagency response from Montana. This includes more than 30 inspection stations, a doubling in the monitoring efforts and decontamination stations about both Tiber and Canyon Ferry Reservoirs. Boat ramps at both reservoirs are designated as open either to all boats or certified local boaters only. Currently, two boat ramps at each reservoir are open for all boaters. At Canyon Ferry, these boat ramps are the Silos on the

southwest side of the lake and Shannon on the north end near the dam. At Tiber, the Tiber Marina and VFW ramps, both near the dam, are open to all boaters. Other boat ramps on each reservoir are open to certified local boaters only. On both reservoirs, local boater ramps will be clearly marked. Maps for each reservoir are also available online at musselresponse.mt.gov. Generally, decontamination only will require thoroughly cleaning, draining, and drying, which can be done in a matter of minutes. A full hot water decontamination of a more complex boat with ballasts or live wells takes an average of up to 30 minutes and can include spraying the exterior and flushing interior compartments with pressurized hot water (140°F). In the most extreme cases, the motor’s cooling system will need to be flushed. The local boater program is geared for boaters who primarily spend their time on either reservoir. This program is being implemented to help reduce wait times at decontamination stations and to continue to ensure that waters outside of Tiber and Canyon Ferry are protected from invasive mussels. For more information on invasive mussels, maps of inspection and decontamination stations, and how to clean, drain and dry your watercraft, go online to musselresponse. mt.gov.

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