2007 Visitor's Guide

Park County has one of the most extensive collections of big game anywhere in America. Nearly every type of big game animal in North America can be found within the mountains or valleys in the area, thanks to the county’s diverse geography.

Hunters who tread the county’s foothills and mountains might find elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black bears, bighorn sheep, moose, mountain goats and mountain lions. Grizzly bears might also be encountered, although it is illegal to kill the threatened species. The prairies offer fine antelope hunting, as well as good upland bird hunting for sage grouse, sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge, with an occasional pheasant flushed for variety.

Park County also has good ruffed and blue grouse populations, as well as plenty of water that attracts both ducks and geese.

Since 2004, a limited number of turkey permits have been slated for Park County.

A non-resident hunter need not be accompanied by a guide, according to Montana law. It is illegal to hire an unlicensed guide, however. A call to the local chamber of commerce will give hunters several names of men and women licensed to guide in this area.

Non-residents who wish to hunt elk or antlered deer in Montana should write to the Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, 1420 East Sixth Ave., Helena MT 59620. Or, hunters can call the department at (406) 444-2950.

Park County is famous as trophy elk hunting country.

There are popular late elk hunts in the county during which a hunter may harvest a cow or a bull elk, depending on the type of permit. Winter snows often drive the animals to lower elevations, where they are more accessible to the average hunter.

Drawings are held for these late hunts and applicants must send in special forms months in advance.

A limited number of permits are also offered for species such as bison, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep and goats.

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The Yellowstone River and its tributaries offer some of the best fishing in the state. The area draws would-be trophy anglers from around the world to its streams for the chance to land the big one.

To assure that a fishing trip is enjoyed to the fullest, anglers must be aware of the rules governing the body of water being fished. With the detection of whirling disease in some area streams, knowing the rules and how they have changed has become even more important.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens patrol the waters to maintain responsible fishery management.

According to the general rules of the 2008 fishing regulations, which can be picked up at any local fishing shop, a conservation license is required of both residents and non-residents before a fishing license may be purchased.

Montana residents between the ages of 12 and 14 do not need a fishing license but do need a conservation license. Children 11 and younger do not need either license. Those 15 to 61 must buy a conservation license and a fishing license. Anglers 62 and older need a conservation license only.

Resident conservation licenses, which cost $8, are available at several outdoor stores and other outlets in Park County. A resident fishing license is $18 for the season and $5 for two consecutive days.

For non-resident anglers younger than 15, a license is not required if accompanied by an adult who has a fishing license. The combined limit for the two anglers cannot exceed the creel limit for one licensed angler. A non-resident child younger than 15 is allowed to buy a fishing license to catch his or her own limit.

Non-resident conservation licenses are $10. The non-resident may choose between the $15 two-day fishing license, good only for two consecutive days, the 10-day license for $43.50, or the $60 season license.

When anglers buy licenses, they should also pick up a copy of the 2008 fishing regulations to find out the daily limits, possession limits and other general fishing regulations for the stream or lake they will be fishing.

The standard fishing season for the Central Fishing District, which includes Park County, is from the third Saturday in May through Nov. 30 for rivers and streams.

The Yellowstone River, however, is open the entire year from Yellowstone Park to Emigrant bridge south of Livingston, and from the Pine Creek bridge to Billings. Between those bridges, other rules apply.

All cutthroat trout caught on the Yellowstone must be released.

Lakes in the central district are open year-round.

Anglers should be aware that standard limits do not apply to all bodies of water.

By following the Montana fishing regulations, anglers will have the opportunity of a lifetime to enjoy all the fishing Park County has to offer.

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Spring creeks like Nelson’s and Armstrong’s in Paradise Valley south of Livingston have likely caused more anglers to lose tempers, break rods and finally sit down and weep with frustration than any other body of water.

The scenario could go like this: On a typical day a competent angler arrives at a spring creek early in the morning. There is absolutely no activity - no wind - and the angler casts aimlessly. Then he or she sees a rise, followed by another and another. An insect hatch is in progress, and the trout gorge.

Within minutes, the stream is boiling with feeding fish - more fish than the angler has ever seen before. Casting here, there and soon everywhere, the angler is surrounded by feeding fish, but nothing takes the fly. Desperately, the angler changes flies. Nothing works. Trout mock the angler by selecting natural bugs right beside the imitation. The angler begins to lose control.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the feeding stops.

The angler has caught nothing.

It is enough to shatter the confidence of any angler, but it is also a challenge to some.

Park and Gallatin counties contain several spring creeks, most smaller than Nelson’s, all located on private land and requiring permission to fish.

The problem with fishing spring creeks lies in the abundance and size of natural food. The constant temperature and nearly constant flow produces tremendous insect populations. Trout feast on these small morsels, often becoming super-selective toward one form of one insect, say a mayfly nymph, depending on the insect hatch in progress.

Matching the trout’s selection with an artificial fly is complicated by the insects’ size. Usually, the adult insect is less than one-half inch in length. Often insects are less than one-quarter inch.

An artificial spring creek nymph sometimes looks like nothing more than a tiny hook wrapped with a piece of thread. A half-dozen size 22 nymphs could all fit on a dime. The eyes of these hooks look like pin holes, yet anglers deftly tie them onto leaders.

Then, when the tackle is assembled, the angler must place his or her offering in a precise spot and in such a way that it looks more natural than the natural insect. If the line drags the fly through the water, trout refuse it.

Why all this trouble? Because when everything is just right, spring creek anglers can enjoy fabulous fishing. The trout are usually large and healthy and put up a fine fight. On top of all that, the angler also gains the satisfaction of catching a difficult quarry.

Local fishing shops can help book trips on spring creeks, but the summer season tends to be filled up months in advance. Each creek is fly-fishing only, catch and release.

Many local fly shops offer guided trips on the spring creeks.

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Anglers will find few fishing opportunities to rival the clear, trout-filled streams and lakes of Yellowstone National Park.

Some of the best trout fishing in the world can be found on the many rivers coursing over southwest Montana, so there is no need to visit the park to hook a trophy brown or rainbow, but the gorgeous scenery, abundant wildlife, unique thermal features and the wide variety of backcountry destinations available in Yellowstone make it a genuine angler’s paradise.

Some Yellowstone waters are restricted to fly-fishing only, but the rules vary from stream to stream and even riffle to riffle. Eager anglers should be careful to obtain a Yellowstone Park fishing license and pick up a free copy of the fishing regulations before wetting a line.

The most recent newly instituted rule regards barbed hooks. A 2006 law prohibits anglers from using barbed hooks in the park. Violators of the policy are subject to penalties, including fines and loss of rods.

With that in mind, wonderful fishing can be found virtually anywhere in the park, but the best known streams flow north into the Yellowstone River or west into the fabled Madison.

Closest to Livingston, the Gardner River cascades through a deep canyon near Mammoth Hot Springs before it empties into the Yellowstone at the park boundary. Bigger fish lie in the lower sections of the Gardner, but the upstream portions hold plenty of small brook trout.

The other major tributaries of the Yellowstone that attract anglers include Slough Creek, Soda Butte Creek and Hellroaring Creek. Each stream is a healthy hike away, but worthwhile.

The most prized fish, though, dwell in the mighty Yellowstone, where large cutthroat trout lurk beneath the foaming surface.

Getting to the Yellowstone in the park can be tough. Most of the river plunges through the deep gorges that form the Black Canyon and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Easily accessible points like Buffalo Ford draw crowds of anglers. But for those willing to contend with a steep walk and the swift, narrow river channel, unwary lunkers await.

The western half of the park drains into the Madison River, widely regarded as a premiere trout stream. From Madison Junction, where the Gibbon and the Firehole rivers merge, the Madison flows 23 miles to West Yellowstone. A road closely follows the course of the river, giving even casual fishermen a chance to fish.

But all of this talk unfairly focuses on the rivers and streams, when any cagey angler knows the park is dotted with splendid lake fishing opportunities. Try Grebe Lake, Heart Lake or Fawn Lake, to name a few.

Boaters are banned from most of the park’s open water, but motorized craft can be launched on sections of Yellowstone Lake and Lewis Lake. This year, fishing licenses in the park are $10 for 10 days, or $20 for the season. Children under age 16 fish for free.

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There is something fishy going on in Yellowstone Lake, and anglers, fish biologists and Park Service officials are mad as heck over it.

Nobody is quite sure how or when it happened, but it is believed that someone in the not too distant past illegally stocked Yellowstone Lake with lake trout.

No big deal, right? After all, Yellowstone is a huge lake and lake trout inhabit lakes. Seems like a perfect marriage.

Wrong!

Fish experts, park biologists and people who enjoy the sport of fishing say the predator fish has knocked the perfectly balanced ecosystem around the lake out of whack. The fish, they maintain, poses a grave threat to native cutthroat trout and it could have far-reaching effects on resident eagles, grizzly bears and other animals. And most experts are without any clear answers as to the best way to eliminate the fish or lessen its threats to the area.

The National Park Service is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information that might help explain why, when or who introduced the fish to the lake's icy waters, an action a former Yellowstone superintendent called "an appalling act of environmental terrorism."

The Park Service's reason for its concern is simple: It's the way lake trout eat, breed and spend their free time.

By nature, the lake trout is a predator with an appetite for smaller fish. Yellowstone Lake was one of the last remaining sanctuaries for genetically pure Yellowstone cutthroat trout, a species native to the pristine streams and waterways of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. But its numbers are diminishing quickly, due mainly to hybridization with rainbow trout and the introduction of brown and brook trout that have overtaken cutthroat habitat and feeding and spawning grounds in rivers like the Yellowstone, Madison and Gardner. Lake trout are expected to do the same, but in this case, they eat cutthroats at the same time they bully them out of their neighborhood.

As for the other critters that live around the lake's 110 miles of shoreline, reduced cutthroat numbers makes the task of finding food a little more difficult.

Each spring, grizzly and black bears flock to the streams that empty into the lake to snag spawning cutthroats. Fewer fish means a longer buffet line and tougher competition among bears. Hawks and bald and golden eagles also like to dine on the easy-to-catch cutthroats, which prefer swimming in shallow waters, unlike the bottom-dwelling lake trout that tend to stay out of reach.

Grizzlies and bald eagles are threatened species, and biologists cringe at the thought of anything threatening their livelihood. Fewer cutthroats could also impact osprey and otters.

So that is why it is open season on lake trout. In fact, park rangers require anglers to keep the lake trout they catch. There is no limit on them, but rangers do ask that anglers report their catch so biologists can better track behavior and population size.

Meanwhile, experts began spreading gill nets for lake trout in various strategic locations, and efforts are under way to locate and destroy the fish's spawning beds.

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Aquatic nuisance species are non-native plant or animal species that threaten Montana's fish populations in blue-ribbon fishing streams, and steps must be taken by anglers and outdoor enthusiasts to help prevent their spread.

New Zealand mud snails (NZMS) are just one of a number of the nuisance species.

Since their discovery in Idaho's Snake River in 1987, NZMS have spread to surrounding areas, including the Columbia River drainage and many Montana and California waters, where they have flourished.

The small, brown snails measure no more than an eighth of an inch, but are capable of reproducing very rapidly. A single snail produces up to 38 live snails twice a year. Each of them reaches a reproductive age very quickly, making it possible for the original snail to be responsible for a population of roughly 3,700,000 NZMS in two years.

NZMS have impacted the environment through sheer numbers. Densities of more than 800,000 per square meter have been recorded in several areas.

Their impact is seen in several ways. The most immediate is on populations of native snails that can be quickly pushed out. The loss of native snails becomes a loss of food to various fish. NZMS provide little if any nutrition to fish that eat them. NZMS have no natural enemies in North America.

The Federation of Fly Fishers released the following list of recommendations, which if followed, will help reduce the spread of NZMS:

• Thoroughly clean and rinse your equipment before leaving a fishing site.
• Completely dry all equipment before using it again.
• Hot temperatures kill NZMS, 113-degree temperatures for 60 seconds will kill them.
• Never release fish or any other living creature into any water it did not originate in.

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In days gone by, every angler used to catch the “limit.” But now, a good day of fishing doesn’t have to mean taking home a creel full of fish to eat. In fact, many anglers these days just take a short look at the fish and release it back to the wild waters.

Catch-and-release fishing is a rule for many anglers, and on many Montana streams it’s the law. State regulations require that all cutthroat trout caught in the Yellowstone River and its tributaries, from Yellowstone Park to Springdale, be released.

Because rules vary from stream to stream, and even from one stretch of river to the next, it’s important to first check the regulations, which are available at most sporting goods stores.

In addition to catch-and-release regulations, some streams may also be restricted to artificial lures or fly fishing only. However, bait casters will find they are welcome at most places.

According to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the following steps will ensure that a released fish has the best chance for survival:
• Play the fish as quickly as possible; do not fight them to total exhaustion.
• Keep the fish in the water when handling and removing the hook, and remember to handle each fish with care.
• Remove the hook gently; do not squeeze the fish or put fingers in its gills.
• If a fish is deeply hooked, cut the line, don't try to pull the hook out.
• Release a fish only after it has regained its equilibrium. If necessary, gently hold the fish facing upstream and slowly move the fish back and forth.
• Release fish in quiet water.

In addition to the tips listed above, many anglers have found that a pair of needle-nose pliers can be helpful when removing hooks.

Photographs should be taken quickly, minimizing the amount of time the fish is out of the water. Fish cannot breathe air and will suffocate if kept too long out of their liquid atmosphere.

Large fish can be lifted for a memorable pose by placing one hand under the head and the other hand beneath the tail.

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