Montana Fish Report

Streams and rivers are open to trout fishing until Oct. 31. Anglers are allowed to use bait in streams above tidewater and may harvest two trout per day that are a minimum of 8 inches long.

Many salmon have moved upriver towards the spawning grounds after this past weekend’s rain. Most anglers have put away their salmon fishing gear for the season. Anglers looking to catch one last salmon should concentrate fishing near upper tidewater. Bank anglers are catching Chinook salmon at the mouth of Daniels Creek, Isthmus Slough, and the Coos Bay City Boardwalk. There is not a wild coho season inside Coos Bay this year so all wild coho must be released but anglers may keep an adipose fin-clipped hatchery coho.

Recreational fishing for bottomfish is closed because the quotas for several species have been reached. This includes the ocean along with bays and estuaries. On Oct. 1, recreational bottomfishing will reopen outside 40 fathoms but for anglers using “longleader” gear only. The daily bag limit for the long-leader fishery has been increased to 10 marine fish but retention of black rockfish, cabezon, lingcod, and other nearshore rockfish (blue, deacon, china, copper, and quillback rockfishes) are not allowed at any depth for the remainder of the 2017 season. Find more information about a longleader setup here.

Crabbing and clamming updates can now be found in the Crabbing and Clamming section of the Recreation Report.