Fewer than 3,000 adult
bull trout are clinging to existence today in the Flathead River
Drainage.
A century ago, tens of
thousands of bull trout roamed the waters of Flathead Lake and
the Flathead River system. By the mid-1980s a spawning run
of 10,000 to 15,000 fish still provided exciting fishing
opportunities. Today there are less than 3,000
adult fish left in Flathead Lake and the North and Middle forks.
Due to our misguided actions and inattention, these magnificent fish are
on the brink of extinction in our home waters.
The Flathead Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited supports a
scientifically sound and inclusive program to restore fishable
numbers of bull trout to the Flathead.
Pick up a copy of the DVD video
Jewel in The Crown today! This exciting video
tells the compelling story of what happened to bull trout
and reviews current threats through conversations with some of
the last anglers who were able to legally pursue these
majestic fish in the Flathead and
through interviews with local fisheries biologists and managers.
You can purchase your own copy of this new DVD for only $12 (+ $2
shipping & handling) by using our secure PayPal
account. Order yours today.
Note:Due to a manufacturing problem,
these DVDs will auto-start in the middle. You will have to
rewind to the beginning when you view the video.
The video
is also available at local fly shops and other vendors.
Click
here for a list of our partner retail outlets (via
flatheadtu.org).
Watch a
short trailer for Jewel in The Crown
Only 30 years ago anglers were able to
pursue fish like this throughout the Flathead River and it's
tributaries. Today, fishing for this threatened species is
prohibitied in our home waters due to their fragile hold on
continued existence in our lakes and rivers.
Threats to native fish in the
Flathead River system are diverse and immediate. Current
angling opportunities for native bull trout and cutthroat
trout are severly limited due to our past and present
actions. With fewer than 3,000 native bull trout remaining,
we must take action quickly and decisively if we are to save
these magnificent fish from extinction in our waters. YOU CAN HELP by contacting Region 1, Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks at:
Let these managers know that you support a
scientifcally sound plan for the restoration and
conservation of our native fish.
For more information on native fish
conservation or local northwest Montana fisheries issues, please
visit the Flathead Valley
Trout Unlimited website.
1800s:Tens
of thousands
of bull trout to more than 20 pounds inhabited all the
diverse habitats of the Flathead Watershed and were
eagerly sought after by anglers. Bull trout used the
entirity of the drainage, spawning in streams up to 150
miles from Flathead Lake. They used the river system and
the lake mature and grow.
Early 1900s: Lake trout, Lake Superior
whitefish, kokanee salmon, yellow perch and other non-native species
were introduced, both legally and illegally into
Flathead Lake in a misguided attempt to provide better
fishing opportunities.
1920s:
By the 1920s, kokanee salmon dominated the Flathead Lake
fishery along with good fishing for bull trout, cutthroats
and lake trout.
1938: Kerr Dam was built at the outlet
of Flathead Lake turning the lower 20 miles of the river
above the lake into still water habitat and destryoying rearing
habitat for native fish.
1953: Hungry Horse Dam was constructed on the
South Fork of the Flathead River cutting off 40% of the
spawning area for the Flathead Bull Trout population.
Isolated populations of native bull trout and westslope
cutthroat trout continue to exist above the dam.
Hydropower flows damaged and destroyed native fish
spawning and rearing areas below the dam.
1968:
Montana FWP began plantings of Opossum Shrimp (Mysis
relicta) into lakes upstream from Flathead
Lake.
1981:
Mysis driftted down from upstream plantings and began to
show up in Flathead Lake. Mysis
numbers increased rapidly to a peak of 130 shrimp per
square meter by 1986 and then declined. Mysis competed with kokanee
for the phytoplankton food resource. Forage on mysis
improved the survival of juvenile lake trout in the
lake.
1988: Between 1979 and 1985,
118,000 to 260,000 kokanee spawners were estimated each
year in McDonald Creek near Glacier National Park.By 1987, only 330 kokanee migrated
to McDonald Creek and only 50 spawned in 1989.
1990: Bull trout and cutthroat
trout began a precipitous decline as predatory lake trout numbers
dramatically increased with the presence of Mysis
providing a new food source for juvenile lake trout.
1997: A scientific panel
convened by FWP and CSKT finds that "Lake trout are
believed to be one of the most important factors causing
the recent decline in bull trout in the Flathead Lake
system."
1998: June 10, 1998; bull trout
are listed as a "Threatened Species" across their range
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the
Endangered Species Act.
1999: Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
initiated a new co-management plan for Flathead Lake with a
goal of increasing the abundance of native bull trout
and cutthroat trout. The co-management plan relies on
recreational fishing pressure to control lake trout
abundance.
2006: An illegally introduced
population of Northern Pike in the lower river is
estimated at 1,300 - 1,400 fish consuming 3,500
native bull trout annually and more than 13,000
westslope cutthroat trout.
2006: The mid-term review of the
co-management plan for Flathead Lake finds that lake
trout annually consume over 30,000 native bull trout.
The review concluded that "lake trout predation is
presently the largest factor controlling bull trout
abundance in Flathead Lake, and is also the one we are
most able to modify through our management."
2009: Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks begins experimental netting to remove lake trout
from Swan Lake. Lake trout showed up in the Swan
drainage in 1998 and threaten one of the most secure
populations of native bull trout. Lake trout have also been
found in nine of twelve lakes in Galcier Park where they
have replaced stable bull trout populations.
Overabundance of lake trout in Flathead Lake has caused
the population to pioneer into new habitat throughout the
drainage.
Today: Bull trout redd counts
continue to decline throughout the North and MIddle Fork
drainages. The lake trout population continues to
increase in Flathead Lake with a current population of
near a half million adult fish. As lake trout abundance
increases, sizes of fish caught continues to decline.
Fishing contests, thought to be able to control lake
trout numbers, have not been able to remove enough lake
trout to affect the bloated population. We face the very
real threat of losing bull trout in the Flathead
watershed in the near future.
