Fish Tales Articles due

SWATE Online Walleye Rod Live Auction!

New LIVE Auction for Walleye Rod! – CLICK HERE!

**You must be logged into membership portal to bid**

2023 Fort Peck Spawning Update

Heath Headley and others from Fort Peck are working hard on the late season Spawn. Check it out here!

SPAWNING

Tongue River Reservoir State Park campground to close for road work

Tongue River Reservoir State Park campground to close for road work Campers Point unavailable May 10-12 MILES CITY – The Campers Point Campground at Tongue River Reservoir State Park will be closed May 10-12 for road repairs, but other camping areas will remain open. Currently campsite use at TRR is first come, first serve, until reservations open on May 19. People staying at Campers Point prior to May 10-12 will need to relocate to another area. The rest of the campgrounds at the site will remain open during that time. The Campers Point main boat ramp will be closed those three days, and access to the marina store may be limited. The Peewee North Campground boat ramp will be open. FWP staffers will post signage to announce the brief closure.

Lake Elmo open for gas motorboat testing May 13 and 20

Lake Elmo open for gas motorboat testing May 13 and 20
Boat owners can test equipment before summer season

BILLINGS – Before boating season gets into full swing this summer, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is opening Lake Elmo to gasoline motorboats for two Saturdays in May. The events are intended to give boat owners an opportunity to test equipment for safety and will be held May 13 and May 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Typically, only electric trolling motors are allowed on the 64-acre reservoir in Billings. The gas motor ban will be waived for these events in an effort to promote and increase boater safety.

Officers from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary in Billings will be available to conduct boat safety inspections and will be set up near the Lake Elmo boat ramp.

For more information on Lake Elmo State Park, visit: https://fwp.mt.gov/lake-elmo

Watercraft inspection stations open across most of Montana

Watercraft inspection stations open across most of Montana
2,000 watercraft inspected so far this year

HELENA – With the exception of Eureka, watercraft inspection stations are open. All vehicles transporting any type of boat, including canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and rafts are required to stop at all inspection stations they encounter.

Watercraft inspection stations are Montana’s first line of defense to prevent the movement of AIS, which can have devastating impacts on Montana waterways.

More than 2,400 watercraft have been inspected so far this year. Of those, 13 boats were found to be transporting invasive mussels. Recently, a pontoon boat was intercepted at the Wibaux inspection station (operated by the Garfield Conservation District). The boat had been purchased at auction in Wisconsin and was being transported to Idaho. Inspectors preformed a decontamination, locked the boat to the trailer and notified Idaho to follow up.

Boat owners should ensure their watercraft, trailers and gear are clean, drained and dry before transporting and need to be aware of Montana’s inspection rules:

All watercraft coming into Montana from out of state must be inspected prior to launching.
All watercraft traveling west across the Continental Divide into the Columbia River Basin must be inspected prior to launching.
Anyone transporting watercraft must stop at all open watercraft inspection stations they encounter.
And all boaters are reminded to always clean drain and dry their boat, live wells, anchors, boots and gear when leaving the water.
-fwp-

TIBER Walleye Cam now available!

Click here to view the Tiber webcams. Two cams!

Tiber Cam

Fishing Licenses due March 1st!

Please log into FWP and purchase your fishing and boat license!

Application deadlines 

• March 23: Upper Missouri River Paddlefish harvest tag (white tag)
• April 1: Deer and elk permits, and non-resident big game combinations
• May 1: Moose, sheep, goat, bison
• June 1: Deer B, elk B, antelope

SB 428 to Elect FWP Commissioners – comments needed!

Scheduled for Feb 28 at 3:00 PM in the Senate Fish and Game Committee. Room 422

Please use the following link to voice your concerns against special interest groups influencing FWP elections!

https://leg.mt.gov/web-messaging/

Just fill in the contact info, send to “committee” and enter “Senate Fish and Wildlife” enter SB 428 and “against” and add your comments.

WU – Treasurer notice

Please have budget requests for remainder of 2023 into me and budget committee by March 15th, 2023.

We are currently just paying bills up to the board spring board meeting of 2023.