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The river used to be impoverished but has come back as
a fishery thanks to contributions and enormous work by local
groups and individuals. But so much attention on the river has
resulted in overuse. He says that it is not the river of his youth,
having been overrun by boats, anglers, and gawkers, and that
his dad would complain about the "Spanish Armada" of boats
coming down the river even in his day.
John told me about a favorite fishing hole his family has used
for generations called the Muchmore Hole, and how people will
bypass every other hole to get to that one and then sit for hours
fishing it, using treble hooks—legal but, in his opinion, unsports-
manlike behavior. Worse, people will trespass to get to the hole,
and in Montana, that is taking a chance at getting shot at.
With this in the back of my mind, I met up with Jerry O'Con-
nell, the Big Blackfoot Riverkeeper. I sat in his truck as he
weaved around crater-sized potholes, stopping at areas where
the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through and giving me
a history lesson at each one. I could tell he took some pride in
his storytelling. It made the afternoon enjoyable; he's quite the
character, full of enthusiasm and overflowing with knowledge
of local lore and conservation issues.
Between history lessons, he told of how he first came here in
1986 and fly-fished the Blackfoot, hitchhiking to Missoula and
jumping on trains to get around. He said that an area of partic-
ular concern right now is a six-mile stretch of the river enjoyed
by rafters that runs from Whitaker Bridge to Johnsrud Park.
The Bureau of Land Management has recently been approved
to pave roads to the spot, but there is hope this will not happen,
and the road will remain just as bad as it was on the day we
went. If it does get paved, the fear is more people will come to
the river, and with them the potential for more problems.
As we made our way down the road at one spot, O'Connell
stopped to talk about boaters making camps along the river
and the damage it was causing. Collaborating with MFWP,
their solution was the Blackfoot River Float-In sites, a series
For more inFormation, contact:
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