Winter Newsletter

01/23/2010

Part One- The North Fork of the Shoshone

The holidays have come and gone and it is time to start looking forward to the up coming season. I have noticed some trends with the health of some of our fisheries in the last couple years and after asking around a bit it seems that most of the fisherman I have talked to are in agreement. As our area has become more popular with fisherman from all over the country some of the old regulations are in need of adjustment. Let me explain what myself and all my fishing buddies have found.

The past 3 years the North Fork of the Shoshone has been in a steady decline. The fish have become smaller and less in numbers. The general health of the fish has not been as good as well. We are seeing what I would call a lot of skinny fish. On top of that there has been a tremendous increase in people fishing the river. So many in fact that last year I was only able to do 2 trips on the North Fork in early July and from that time on the river was simply to crowded for my tastes. The fish start out of the reservoir in late March. Up until 3 years ago there were very few people fishing the river at this time. Last year you couldn't find an open hole on the public access on the lower river and on top of that there were lots of boats on the reservoir catching and keeping the pre spawn fish. On April 1st the lower river is closed to fishing up to Newton creek which is about 30 miles up stream. The fish get a break from people on that stretch but are swimming up stream and loosing body mass the whole time. Last year you couldn't find an open hole from Newton creek to Pahaska after the middle of April. Lots more abuse once they get above Newton creek as they make their way to the spawning grounds. Middle of May we get run off. The fish now have to fight their way through heavy current the rest of the way to their spawning areas. As run off subsides the dude ranches start running day trips to the meadows literally taking fish off their spawning beds for people to eat. It is common practice for the ranch to cook all the fish you catch each day. After the fish spawn they begin the journey down stream and back into the reservoir. It has probably been a couple weeks since they have fed at this point they are in the worst shape of the year. By the end of July run off has begun to taper off a bit and the fisherman are back on the river. The river is now open to fishing for its entire length. Last August there was literally a fisherman in every hole for all of August and most of September. I have never seen it this crowded. The fish are now eating everything they can find trying to put weight back on that they lost during spawning. Lots of fish were going into coolers. Finally they make there way back to the reservoir where all they have to deal with is boat fisherman for the rest of the season.

To this point we have only touched on man's effect on the fishery. There can be many other natural factors that contribute to hard times for the fish. When you understand what these fish are up against it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see why this population is in decline. At the time they were implemented, the current regulation seemed satisfactory, but a lot has changed in the last couple years. Mainly, 10 times as many people using the fishery. We don't need to wait till the fishery is totally decimated before we take action to save it. There isn't a single fisherman of any persuasion that wants to see this happen.

Many other fisheries all over the country have had this same scenario and have made the changes to bring the fisheries back to their true potential. Many of them had to be totally decimated before something was done. Slot limits and catch and release fishing has been the ticket to restoring these fisheries in every situation. I am not promoting no kill across the board by any means. I just think we need to make the changes necessary in each individual situation to keep the rivers healthy. We don't want all our streams to become put and take fisheries with only stocked fish to catch. This is the first installment of this topic. I will talk about the Clarks Fork, Greybull, Tongue, and the lower Shoshone in days to come.

Tight Lines!