Region 6 Biologist Reports

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Bailey Reservoir historically has provided great angling opportunities for black crappie, northern pike, perch, and walleye. However, fish population levels have declined significantly since 2000 due to drought. Water levels have improved in 2005, however the reservoir is still not at full pool. Spring trap netting and late summer gill netting revealed very low abundances of sport fish. Angler catch and satisfaction has also been very poor.

To supplement the fishery, 10,000 four-inch rainbow trout were stocked in late fall 2005. In addition, 10,000 fingerling walleye were stocked in the spring of 2005 and 261 yellow perch were transplanted. Additional perch will be transplanted in the spring of 2006. There is an abundance of forage within Bailey and growth and survival of rainbow trout, walleye, and yellow perch should be good.

Beaver Creek Reservoir is a favorite destination for summer and winter fishing and is currently ranked fifth in the region for fishing pressure. Beaver Creek Reservoir sustained good water levels in 2005 and yellow perch have taken full advantage of the available flooded spawning substrate. Good catches of perch and trout were made throughout most of the year. Anglers are catching the chunky walleye with regularity. Smallmouth bass are also providing a great deal of enjoyment. The northern pike population has been depressed for several years and has allowed for a resurgence of the trout fishery. In 2005 however, pike production was high, with multiple 20 to 34-inch northern pike captured during fall sampling. This reservoir usually draws huge crowds from around the state for the winter perch and trout fishing, however warm weather and poor ice conditions in 2004 and 2005 have prevented tournaments and other ice fishing activities.

The long-term sucker reduction program has increased the growth and condition of stocked rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout and the lake is once again a final destination point for thousands of anglers. Bear Paw Lake currently ranks number four in fishing pressure in Region Six. Increased fishing pressure on this body of water instigated a reduction in the trout limit from five to three, which went into affect in March 2002. The reservoir is home to rainbow trout (9 to 11 inch), Yellowstone cutthroat trout, brook trout, walleye (18 to 22 inches: illegally introduced in 1985), smallmouth bass, and white suckers. The reservoir is currently full and many upgrades to the site were done in the last year with more planned. In 2005, an overnight camping fee of $7.00 was initiated to help defray the costs of future improvements.

Cow Creek Reservoir was one of the few unaffected by the drought and the reservoir is currently full. Though travel to this reservoir requires driving over approximately 50 miles of gravel roads, this reservoir is a wonderful destination to fish for some unique species. Those who have traveled the extra distance have reported catches of nine-pound channel catfish. They also report good catch rates of tiger muskies (0.08 fish/hour) and channel catfish (0.07 fish/hour) and exceptional catch rates for walleye (1.96 fish/hour). Anglers should note that the minimum size limit for muskies was increased to 40 inches several years ago.

This reservoir went “bone dry” in 2001 and the fishery is now well on it’s way to recovery. Rainbow trout were introduced in 2002 to supplement the fishery and these trout are currently around four pounds. Additionally northern pike, black crappie, and yellow perch were reintroduced in 2002 and are doing very well. With the reservoir near full, there have been numerous reports of 20 to 30-inch northern pike, 16 to 24-inch rainbow trout, and half-pound perch being caught. Walleye were reintroduced in 2004 and 2005 and many are already 18 inches in length. Water levels are stable and the fishery should continue to provide excellent fishing opportunities.

The condition of rainbow trout continues to be good after Faber Reservoir was rehabilitated in 2000 to remove white suckers. There continue to be reports of high catch rates with many 13 to 15-inch rainbow trout and the occasional four-pound rainbow trout. Water levels within the reservoir remain stable and 10,000 three-inch rainbow trout are stocked annually to sustain the fishery. Spring and summer fishing should be great.

Spring and summer rains allowed Fresno Reservoir elevations to increase and remain stable during spawning of various forage fish over the last two years. As a result, yellow perch have pulled off successful spawns in 2004 and 2005. Yellow perch production is attributed to the high abundance of flooded vegetation that provided excellent spawning substrate and cover.

Walleye spawning success remains low and 100,000 young-of-year walleye were stocked into the reservoir in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Fall netting indicates that walleye catch rates are increasing since their record lows from 2001-2002. Catch is still down from record highs in the 1990s, however, walleye are very healthy and exhibit high condition indices. Twenty to 25-inch walleye, weighing four to five pounds are not uncommon catches. The good walleye condition is attributed to the increased ratio of forage fish to predators.

Lake whitefish (8 to 23 inches) continue to have the highest catch rate during fall netting. Northern pike catch declined slightly from 2003, however it continues to be the highest seen since the mid-1990s.

Rainbow tout, walleye and pike fishing below the dam at the Tailwater Fishing Access Site have been very good, however, anglers should be aware that the Bureau of Reclamation has closed the favorite fishing area immediately below the dam due to security concerns. Anglers now must fish slightly further downstream.

Water levels are reduced due to drought, however they are remaining stable at these lower levels. Rainbow trout are thriving within Grasshopper Reservoir, and fisherman report good catches of 5-pound rainbow trout, at 14 to 18 inches. Since natural reproduction does not occur in this reservoir, annual plants of 2,500 Arlee and 3,000 Eagle Lake rainbow trout will continue.

In 2003, the drought all but dewatered this fine trout fishery and the opportunity was seized to kill off a remnant perch and sucker population, which would certainly cause problems later. The Kuhr Reservoir was restocked in 2003 and closed to fishing. The fishery reopened in 2004, and there were reports of three to four pound rainbow trout being caught. The reservoir is currently near full and 3,000 three to four inch rainbow trout will be stocked annually. H.C. Kuhr also became part of the Private Lands Fishing Access Program in 2005.

The Little Warm Reservoir regained some volume in 2004 and 2005, however levels are still below full pool. Good catches of tiger muskies were reported this year. This reservoir receives annual plants of 10,000 walleye and alternate year plants of 2,500 tiger musky. Anglers should note that the minimum size limit for muskies has increase to 40 inches. To improve fishing access, FWP, with the help of landowner Steve Knudsen, installed a much needed boat ramp from a World War II Air Force landing mat in 2003 and a cattle guard was installed at the entrance in 2004.

A valuable recreational snag fishery occurs each year for paddlefish above Fort Peck Reservoir in areas down river of the Fred Robinson Bridge. In recent years, harvest of Fort Peck paddlefish has varied considerably with annual river discharges, but has typically ranged between 300 and 1,000 fish. Historically, paddlefish anglers have caught numerous paddlefish over 100 pounds, however these fish are aging, and being removed form the population. Younger paddlefish are not growing as large due to reduced productivity in Fort Peck Reservoir

In 2006, increased flows have been planned to study the effects of flows on many of the native fishes in the Missouri River. As a result it is anticipated that there will be an increase in the number of paddlefish that migrate up the Missouri River to spawn.

FWP will be continuing to tag paddlefish and encourages anglers to return tags with information on location and size at harvest to the Havre Area Resource Office. This information allows biologists to determine survival, harvest, and growth rates of paddlefish in the Missouri River. In 2006, FWP and the University of Idaho will also be installing radio transmitters in paddlefish to study how spawning locations and spawning success vary with differences in annual flows. This will enable FWP to evaluate habitat use by adult migratory fish under different hydrological and ecological conditions, and to gauge the effects of annual environmental variability on paddlefish migratory behavior and eventual year class strength. FWP asks snaggers to release any paddlefish implanted with transmitters. If mortality occurs, we request that transmitters be returned to the Havre Areas Resource Office so that they can be re-implanted into another paddlefish.

Though also affected by the long drought, Nelson Reservoir has fared better than Fresno in maintaining its fishery. The percentage of dead storage is significantly higher than that at Fresno and off-stream storage reduces turbidity levels. Good catches have been reported throughout the year on black crappie (5 to 9 inches), lake whitefish (15 to 23 inches), northern pike (24 to 31 inches), and walleye (9 to 27 inches). Walleye production remains low and as a result, 100,000 young-of-year walleye were stocked into the reservoir. Yellow perch and other forage fish production substantially increased in 2005 as a result of high amounts of flooded vegetation, which provided spawning habitat. Walleye growth and condition are expected to improve in response to the increase in available forage.

The low water and great productivity of this reservoir caused a winterkill in 2002-2003. Rainbow trout and bluegill were stocked in 2003 and two aerator windmills were installed in an attempt to increase dissolved oxygen, which seems to be a limiting factor. In 2004, two thousand 2-inch bluegill were stocked, and three thousand 3-inch rainbow trout were stocked. Fall gillnetting surveys in 2005 show excellent growth and survival of rainbow trout. Water levels are currently high, and the fishing should be good.

This beautiful mountain cutthroat fishery was rehabilitated in 2000 to rid it of suckers. It was closed in 2001 to allow fish to grow to acceptable size. Anglers were not disappointed when the pond was opened in May of 2002. Good catches of 13 to15-inch cutthroat were made. Water levels were good this year and 2,000 six to eight inch Yellowstone cutthroat trout were stocked. However, this pond is again plagued with a white sucker problem, and is scheduled for rotenone treatment in 2006.

Water levels in most reservoirs and streams in the western part of the region are full or near full going into the winter months. Fishing is projected to be good throughout the winter and into the spring. Please feel free to contact the Havre Area Resource Office on the status of reservoirs before venturing long distances to fish.

This year the drought continued, however it wasn’t as severe as previous years, with the pool raising a little over 2.5 feet in 2005. Fort Peck Reservoir’s peak elevation was on July 13th, at 2203.7 feet msl. Insufficient snow pack in the mountains and especially in the plains during this winter does not bode well for a significant change in water elevations in 2006.

Fortunately, there are still reservoir areas over 160 feet deep, so cold-water habitat is being conserved, but shoreline conditions for good fish recruitment has been limited for many years. Shoreline vegetation was not substantially flooded in 2005, but it was the first improvement since the drought began. Ultimately, the low water levels will be a plus for fish production when the miles of exposed shoreline vegetation are flooded by successive years of rising water. This will result in many years of excellent fish habitat and base nutrients for revitalizing the reservoir.

Pike and perch young-of-year increased in the Dry Arm in 2005, the first documentation of improvement in their recruitment since the onset of the drought. Recruitment continues to be low or non-existent in the rest of the reservoir for perch and pike. Walleye recruitment has been declining as well, but due to stocking efforts, recruitment has not been as low as species relying on natural reproduction.

The walleye spawn continues to move down reservoir with receding water levels. It has been challenging to get equipment into the water in the spring as the ice breaks up, as the spawn hasn’t been near a boat ramp in several years. Despite the challenges, the egg-take has been successful; let us hope the good luck and hard work continues to pay off. This year 92 million eggs were taken. This operation relies on a vigorous volunteer program to be successful. If you are interested in helping with the walleye egg-take in April, call 406-526-3471 to join the other 80 to 100 annual volunteers. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about walleye fishery, see many large walleye, and be a part of the state-wide egg-take that benefits many Montana walleye fisheries.

As a result of the spawn, other Montana walleye waters were stocked with fry and fingerlings, with Fort Peck receiving the lion’s share. Over 20 million fry and 1.4 million fingerlings were stocked throughout Fort Peck in 2005. It was planned to stock 2 million or more fingerlings, but supply of fingerlings was limited in 2005. The Fort Peck Hatchery should help us reach a stocking goal of 3 million in 2006.

Annual gill net surveys conducted in 2005 indicate a comparatively strong population of larger walleye exists in Fort Peck, with a steady but diminished number of small walleye since the drought set in. Sampling abundant small walleye in the nets is very desirable, as these are necessary to grow into larger walleyes for anglers. This hasn’t been the case for the past few years. Pike have fared far worse, with only 2% of the pike caught being less than 24 inches. Like walleye, there are many larger pike remaining, waiting for another spring when they can spawn over some good clover or tumbleweed stalks.

Annual seining surveys indicated spottail and emerald shiners have maintained fair numbers in 2005. Young-of-year yellow perch and crappie numbers have not recovered and remain very low. Those four species make up the bulk of the shoreline forage for smaller predatory fish like walleye, bass, and pike. Young-of-year smallmouth bass have fared well throughout the drought, as water levels are typically steady during their summer spawn.

Cisco young-of-year had a better than average spawn in 2004 and 2005 with 31 and 27 caught per net, respectively. This compares to the poor years of three and six per net in 2003 and 2002, and to the near record year of 2000, with 251 per net.

The chinook salmon program continues to be plagued by poor returns despite doubling the stocking numbers and tripling the total weight of stocks. Possible explanations could be poor survival of stocks due to poor forage availability and small salmon being vulnerable to larger predators. Another explanation may be the salmon are attempting to home into Giant Springs as this is where they are reared. It is suspected that predation is playing a much larger role than poor homing, but the combination of the two have created a couple of disappointing years for the salmon program. The new Fort Peck Hatchery will have space to rear spring and fall stock salmon in 2006. Currently over 200,000 fry are waiting to be transferred to the new hatchery. Half of the stock in 2006 will be stocked in the spring, and half will be stocked in the fall at a larger size. The eggs for these fish came from cooperative work with North Dakota and South Dakota.

Lake trout were spawned last year with 27,900 being stocked from Miles City in the spring of 2004. The drought has left about 85% of the known lake trout habitat dry. Trends in lake trout indicate poor reproduction and recruitment when lake levels fall below 2225 msl. At this time lake trout rearing space is non-existent. If you catch a lake trout with a tag, or any other tagged fish in Fort Peck, please record the location, size (length and weight if possible), date caught, tag number and color. We will use any tag information anglers provide, but the more information received the better. After recording all the information possible you may call 406-526-3471 or send the information to us at Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Box 165, Fort Peck, Montana 59223, or contact any regional office and they can contact us.

Prairie streams were sampled in 2005 in Region 6 during the third year of a statewide sampling program. As with the previous two years, a lot of good information was collected. Seventy-six streams were sampled, of which 43 streams had water with fish, 8 were fishless, and 25 streams were dry. During this year’s survey, 7,024 fish were sampled throughout the region. The collected fish represented 24 different species, with 19 native and 5 non-native species.

Fathead minnows were the most abundant species sampled (4,919). Dodson canal produced the most fish at one site, with 1,255 fish, mostly fathead minnows. Nelson Creek, on Fort Peck Reservoir, continued to have the most diversity in fish species, with 9 different species sampled. These fish were all common to those found in regional prairie streams.

In addition to fish sampling, fisheries employee encounters with amphibians and reptiles were also recorded. This information helps fill in distribution gaps of previous sightings within the region. The Northern Leopard Frog was the most common amphibian found. A species of special concern, the Greater Short-Horned Lizard, was found on the Hay Creek drainage, which is located south of the Big Dry Arm of Fort Peck Reservoir.

The stream crew also got an opportunity to sample Box Elder Reservoir, just north of Plentywood. Two experimental gillnets were set overnight, catching a variety of fish species, including some really nice walleyes. The walleye averaged about 1.2 pounds with the biggest at 6.5 pounds. The walleye body condition was reaching into the fat category, so forage abundance is more than adequate in this reservoir. Each net averaged about 15 walleye per net, with 1.5 yellow perch per net. The perch were nice size averaging almost twelve inches in length.