The wildfires and “name-brand” river closures are hurting Montana’s fly fishing industry, though the fly shops and guides now facing empty calendars insist there are plenty of places still offering great fly fishing.
A nicely balanced piece by New West covers all the bases; some want more closures, some think many closures aren’t needed, and others believe the anglers staying away are missing some good fishing:
John Bailey of Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston says the unprecedented closures in Yellowstone National Park caught everybody’s attention.
“The problem is, when the park did their closure it made national headlines, and when it makes national headlines people don’t come,” Bailey explains.
Either way, the warming trend and the restriction guidelines currently in place do not bode well for summer fishing in Montana. John Bailey says the reopening stipulation for closed rivers to reach 70°F for three consecutive days essentially means the Yellowstone River will be closed until the middle of September. Bailey says his fly shop has already seen significant drops in sales in July, and he is not overly optimistic about the future of summer fishing here.
“If what they’re saying about global warming is true and we’re getting spring five weeks earlier, Montana may get known as not a very good place to go in the summer.”
[tags]fly fishing, fishing, yellowstone, montana, drought, new west[/tags]
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been in MT the whole summer, and fishing is great. Yeah, the big rivers are closed, but go to any mountain stream that feeds those big rivers and the fishing is great. The cutthroat were incredibly active the past few days in the upper Boulder, and creeks feeding into the Clark Fork have been productive as well. All you have to do is be willing to go off the beaten path.
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You know why the weather is so hot and they’re closing all the streams don’t you? It’s cuz I’m going there next week for seven days!! That’s my luck! Oh well. Guess I’ll just have a relaxing week away from all the hustle and bustle.
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I’ve heard rumors that the fishing’s good at the higher altitudes, but most of what the rest of the World knows about Montana can be summed up in a small handful of rivers.
Guy: Don’t despair — lots of good fishing, and if you visit Josh’s blog (click on his name), or the Yellowstone Fly Fishing blog, you’ll find plenty of information.
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