By Jordan Hansen DAILY MONTANAN
On Friday afternoon Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced it would be closing the entirety of the Jefferson and Big Hole Rivers to fishing beginning midnight Aug. 23.
Low streamflows were to blame for the closure, which will be until further notice, FWP stated in a press release. The Jefferson River has fallen below 280 cubic feet per second and the Big Hole below 100 cfs at Wise River and 150 cfs at Melrose. Once the river falls below those thresholds, the river is closed.
“With no precipitation forecasted for either river, angling closures are a necessary step to protect the fisheries in both rivers,” said Adam Strainer, Fisheries Division Administrator for FWP.
Both rivers were part of a study non-profit groups devoted to river health released earlier this year, essentially saying four rivers in the Jefferson River Basin were in deep trouble. River temperatures were consistently high to the point where they could kill fish within hours, the study showed.
That study also looked into oxygen levels in those rivers, with the data showing dangerously low levels at night. Algae blooms, which have been a problem across the state this summer, are one likely source of low oxygen levels.
Earlier on Friday, FWP also released information about a fish kill in Blaine County at the Faber Reservoir, “caused by low dissolved oxygen levels in the pond,” and called it a natural event. There was no danger to humans or pets and fish can be harvested from that pond.
Rainbow trout were the only fish to die in that kill, FWP said, noting it would look to restock the pond.
“This is probably due to rainbow trout needing higher dissolved oxygen levels than the smaller minnow species that also reside in the reservoir,” a Cody Nagel, fisheries biologist in Havre, said in the FWP release.
