US Fishing·News desk
FWP proposes Flathead brown-trout catch-and-kill order ahead of Oct. 14 commission
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wants brown trout dead on the report, not in the livewell. Jules Lingenfelter’s Sept. 14 Flathead Beacon story says FWP has proposed an emergency catch-and-kill order for browns in Flathead Lake and waters upstream, turning this summer’s kill-and-call guidance into a regulation. The agency has confirmed browns in Ashley Lake and calls Church Slough reports likely legitimate — illegal introductions, not a native run.
The draft rule: kill the brown, tell FWP within 24 hours, and present the fish at a regional office within 10 days. Fisheries biologist Kenny Breidinger said a brown anywhere in the Flathead drainage is taken seriously because those waters can seed the rest of the system.
The same October packet loosens 2027–28 limits on some Flathead nonnatives — pike, smallmouth, and rainbow on the lake, and lake trout possession in the Western District — as bull-trout conservation. Hungry Horse bull trout would get a 28-inch minimum and a shorter season. Public comment runs through Sept. 24; the Fish and Wildlife Commission hears it Oct. 14.
Photo: Hunter D’Antuono / Flathead Beacon (brown trout in net, Marion area).
This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.