Despite drought, reservoir should fill

Hungry Horse News

The Hungry Horse Reservoir is expected to reach full pool despite the dry winter, according to Ralph Carter, chief facility manager for the Hungry Horse Dam.

The dam has been conserving water, he said last week, and the reservoir is about 14 feet below full pool.

"We're trying to save water because it's a dry year," he said.

The dam ha n't had to release as much water for power demands, he noted, because electricity use is down due to the warm weather for most of the winter.

The reservoir's snowpack and precipitation levels are estimated to be at 62 percent of normal from March through July.

Come April 10, the dam will begin to release more water in anticipation of spring runoff.

The dam operates at what are called minimum flow levels to maintain fisheries in both the South Fork of the Flathead River below the dam and the main stem of the Flathead. Those minimum flows can variate, depending on runoff forecasts.

But between now and July, the dam will keep a minimum flow of 486 cubic feet per second in the South Fork below the dam. The target flow in the main stem is 3,250 cubic feet per second.

Those flows are based on biological opinions from fisheries managers which were established in 2000, Carter said.

He said the goal is to have the reservoir full by July 1. Boaters like to have it full because it makes it easier to launch a boat.

The dam never reached full pool in 2001. That was another dry year and the same year as the Moose Fire up the North Fork.

That year the reservoir came within about 14 feet of being full.

Fishing has been good lately

By CASEY DUNN

Hungry Horse News

The mild winter and low snowpack have had all kinds of negative effects.

Skiers weaved around bare patches. Winter carnivals closed events. Gear shops sat on inventory.

But while others suffered, fly fishermen fished.

Larry LaRoque, of Lakestream Fly Fishing Shop in Whitefish, said before last week's snow storm, the fly fishing had been uncommonly good.

"A lot of water had been fishing pretty well," he said.

He said anglers had been catching rainbows and cutthroats. They were doing well on the Flathead and Elk rivers, as well as unfrozen lakes on the Blackfeet Reservation.

"It was atypical," LaRoque said. "We've been getting favorable reports for the last month. With the mild weather, the fish have been fairly active."

He said the water is still cold and the fish were not rising much. So fishing on top wasn't so hot. But the fish were biting low in the water on nymphs and streamers.

He said woolly buggers, rabbit leaches, prince nymphs and a general assortment of those types of flies were effective.

Bob Arends Sr., of Arends Fly Shop in Columbia Heights, had a different view.

He said fishing is still poor in the rivers and streams because the trout are still in Flathead Lake. He said they won't start coming up the Flathead River until mid-April.

Until then, anglers will mostly catch whitefish.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries biologist Mark Deleray said warm weather definitely makes fish more active. A water temperature increase of one or two degrees can make big difference.

The warm weather also makes the insects more active, especially midges, Deleray said. That makes fish bite.

David Brown, of Stump Town Anglers in Whitefish, said fish will bite even if they aren't that active, because fish always need to eat. The angler just faces more of a challenge to find something that will make the fish put out the effort to take the lure.

He said it's a common misconception that fish don't bite in the winter, simply because most anglers don't want to be out in the cold and never give it a try.

Ice fishing has been OK, too.

Despite warm weather, clear cold nights kept most Flathead Valley lakes frozen until a couple weeks ago.

Ralph Johnson, an angler from Columbia Falls, said people were catching some decent salmon out of Bitterroot Lake. He said he recently caught his limit there and was pulling in one-half to two-pound salmon.

The day after that, the ice broke up, he said.

Johnson said most lakes in the Flathead and on the Blackfeet Reservation are now too open for ice fishing. He said Duck Lake might be an exception.

"I'd be real careful if someone is going ice fishing," Deleray said.

Deleray said people should check the fishing regulations before fishing. He noted that most smaller streams are closed until the third Saturday in May.

Anglers also need to get new fishing licenses. Last year's licenses expired March 1.