Save Wild Trout

Save Wild Trout

In the spring of 2023, Montana’s media started to highlight the fact that wild trout populations in Montana’s Jefferson Basin – an area that includes the world-famous Big Hole, Ruby, Beaverhead and Jefferson Rivers – were in severe distress. Legendary for cold-water fisheries that have historically supported an abundance of wild trout, the rivers in Southwest Montana are currently experiencing what some are calling a population-level collapse. SAVE WILD TROUT was launched to address this very crisis: a coalition of anglers, river advocates, concerned citizens, businesses, guides, and outfitters that have come together with the focused mission of protecting wild trout for the benefit of all. In the small amount of time they had last fall, SWT hired a well-known and highly regarded biologist (Kyle Flynn) to do preliminary work collecting samples and surveying data for a couple weeks in September on the Big Hole. The news was as expected – bad. Low dissolved oxygen and a lot of inputs in the form of nutrient loads in the river means the water quality is not great late in the season. This is not a surprise. (The Spring 2024 fish count numbers did indicate a rebound in trout populations density across the watershed, which is great news. While still falling below the historical mean, the combination of a “good” water year and the October fishing closure to protect spawning likely had a good impact on the fishery) In 2024, SWT has an ambitious plan for water quality and quantity monitoring and data collection across the Jefferson Basin, all in support of complimenting the biological work being done by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

You can learn more about Save Wild Trout by listening to this Waypoints Podcast episode.