H
eritage
Department
Montana Fishing
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES
���F
ishing has kept me sane since I was five,��� Jim Harrison wrote, and we suspect
that���s true for many Montanans. Fishing at least ranks tops or near the top in favorite
things to do among men, women, and children. Part of the definition of good fishing is the
occasional opportunity for solitude. However, as these photos show, women tend to group together just as
they make other situations more social.
One reason Montanans are lucky ��� and visitors swarm here ��� is that Montana streams have
mile after mile of broken water with fish holding
in calmer pockets near rocks, many of which do
not stick out above the surface. Montana also
has abundant ponds and lakes, which have satisfied a lot of people who fish.
Back at the time of these photos there were
no restrictions on ���too big��� a kill of fish. There
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were no restrictions on tackle or behavior. Fishing was wide open but by the 1930s some of the
best fishing was already lost. Many streams were
degraded but since the 1970s many have been
brought back. Improvements (slowly) came
about because of recognition that: stream flows
can���t get too low, hatchery trout interfere with
wild trout, catch-and-release saves many fish
compared to bait fishing, and fly-fishing enables
D I ST I NCT LY M ONTANA ��� SPRI NG 2013
