As Anglers Weigh In, Commissioner Moves to Rewrite Flathead Fishing Rules
Ian Wargo's four amendments would cut the lake trout limit to 20, keep limits on pike, bass and rainbow trout, and change river hook rules; comments due Oct. 9
By Tristan Scott
Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Ian Wargo has proposed four amendments to Montana’s 2027-28 fishing regulations that would rewrite rules for Flathead Lake, the Flathead River, Hungry Horse Reservoir and Little Bitterroot Lake, reversing or altering parts of what Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) put forward in August.
The most substantial changes are on Flathead Lake. Wargo, who represents Region 1 in northwest Montana, would cut the lake trout limit from 100 fish a day to 20 daily and 40 in possession. He would also widen the slot in which anglers must release lake trout from 30-36 inches to 26-36 inches. Only one lake trout over 36 inches could be kept, as under current rules. He would keep the standard Western District limits on northern pike (15 a day), rainbow trout (five a day, only one over 22 inches) and smallmouth bass (15 a day) rather than lifting them, as FWP proposed.
On the Flathead River, anglers must now use single-point hooks, meaning no double or treble hooks. Below the mouth of Church Slough, Wargo would drop that requirement. He would also replace the winter rule there, which now limits anglers to maggots and unscented lures from Dec. 1 to the third Saturday in May, with a ban on dead bait.
At Hungry Horse Reservoir and the South Fork Flathead River, he would move the dividing line between the two sets of regulations from Crossover Boat Ramp to Peters Creek Campground and prohibit live and dead bait. He would also change the South Fork’s catch-and-release season for bull trout, which FWP says now starts July 1, to run from the third Saturday in May through July 31. At Little Bitterroot Lake, he would keep the current kokanee limit of 20 daily and 40 in possession instead of FWP’s proposed 10 and 20.
The commission takes up the regulations Oct. 14 at 8 a.m. by Zoom. Comments on the amendments are due Oct. 9, and Zoom registration for public comment closes at noon Oct. 13.
FWP released its final regulatory package in August after a spring scoping period that drew 261 comments on 41 scoped proposals and 94 proposals from the public, along with seven regional and two statewide meetings, including one in Kalispell in May. The final package has 44 proposals.
For Flathead Lake, three of the department’s proposals — 9, 10 and 11 — would remove the limits on northern pike (now 15 a day), rainbow trout (now five a day) and smallmouth bass (now 15 a day), letting anglers keep any number. FWP said few anglers take more than the standard limits and that measurable population changes are unlikely. The agency also noted that the pike and smallmouth bass are the result of illegal introductions, and said the change would move toward consistent lake-wide rules. FWP manages the northern half of the lake, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) manage the southern half.
FWP left the lake’s 100-fish lake trout limit alone, along with the rule that anglers must release lake trout from 30 to 36 inches and may keep only one over 36 inches. Proposal 2 would lift the possession limit on lake trout in the Western District standard from 40 to none, leaving 20 a day. FWP cited the damage lake trout have done to threatened bull trout in Flathead and Swan lakes, which it said may require active removal.
That history runs through the debate. Lake trout exploded in Flathead Lake after state managers introduced mysis shrimp about a half-century ago, and FWP and the tribes have suppressed them for decades. In 2024, the commission approved gillnetting lake trout on Swan Lake after hearing support from the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana and Trout Unlimited.
At Hungry Horse Reservoir, anglers may now keep one bull trout per license year, of any size, from the third Saturday in May through Aug. 15. They need a special catch card, and the rest of the year the fishery is catch-and-release. Proposal 13 would allow harvest only of bull trout at least 28 inches, and would shorten the harvest window to July 1 through Sept. 1. FWP cited 2024 redd counts at the lowest on record, 48% of the long-term average, and angling pressure on the South Fork that has tripled since 2014.
At Little Bitterroot Lake, where anglers may now keep 20 kokanee a day and 40 in possession, Proposal 14 would cut the limit to 10 daily and 20 in possession. The aim is to protect a wild population FWP plans to use as a hatchery brood source, since egg quality at Lake Mary Ronan has been poor.
In written rationales, Wargo said the balance between native-fish protection and a viable recreational fishery on Flathead Lake “has increasingly been lost.” He said his amendment responds to the lack of specifics in the proposed Statewide Fisheries Management Plan, which he said sets no measurable lake trout objective, desired size structure or acceptable bull trout bycatch.
Citing a tribal suppression report, he wrote that bull trout numbers are low but stable, adult lake trout have declined and the average length of fish brought in at Mack Days has fallen since 2010. Mack Days are the lake trout tournaments held to thin the population of invasive lake trout. He said tournament totals ran about 38,000 to 52,000 fish a year from 2012 through 2024 and reached about 79,000 in 2025. He noted those totals aren’t a population estimate, but asked whether the lake is becoming dominated by small fish as larger ones diminish. He described his lake trout changes as “an interim adjustment” and called lifting the pike, rainbow and bass limits “principally symbolic,” since FWP acknowledges few anglers reach them.
On the river, Wargo wrote that the double- and treble-hook ban “was among the most contentious issues” of the last cycle. He argued the lower river is a slow, lake-influenced fishery where anglers mostly target nonnative lake trout, pike, bass and lake whitefish. He said the lake’s suppression effort encourages harvest with those hooks, yet they’re banned just upstream. He wrote that the benefits of more effective nonnative harvest “may outweigh” the risk of incidental native-fish bycatch.
At Hungry Horse, he cited “local observations and anecdotal reports” that bull trout congregate near Crossover in low water and that “deep hooking” on dead bait kills fish there. He argued a May start for the catch-and-release season would spread pressure into cooler weather rather than concentrate it in warm July.
At Little Bitterroot, he called FWP’s cut “premature,” saying no data show the 20-fish limit is causing overharvest. He said the trend toward more, smaller kokanee fits crowding for food. He also warned a lower limit could lead anglers to release smaller fish, which often die after release from deep water, while continuing to hunt for larger ones. He wrote that if monitoring showed harvest and egg collection hurting the population, “I would be the first to propose an amendment reducing harvest.”
On Flathead Lake, FWP said the lake trout population is large and crowded, and that allowing liberal harvests of small fish and protecting fish over 30 inches are meant to speed growth. Reducing harvest, the agency said, would increase competition. It said small lake trout remain abundant and anglers regularly take 100-fish limits at Mack Days. It also credited the suppression strategy with keeping bull trout populations stable for 25 years. FWP said the tribes changed their lake trout rules in 2025 to match its own, so the amendment would break that lake-wide consistency unless they follow. It said rainbow trout are rare in the lake and that its pike and bass proposals would match tribal rules. The department said it will work with the tribes, anglers and guides to assess whether restoring kokanee is feasible.
On the river, FWP said the lower 22 miles are seasonally flooded by SKQ Dam, which controls the top 10 feet of Flathead Lake. It said that stretch is designated critical habitat for bull trout under the Endangered Species Act and holds bull trout and westslope cutthroat year-round. FWP said the 2024 change dropped a seasonal pike closure, which existed because pike gear also caught migrating bull trout, and paired that with the single-hook rule to reduce handling stress on bull trout. It said the amendment would remove that protection.
On Hungry Horse, FWP said it does not oppose moving the boundary, in place since the catch-card bull trout fishery began in 2004, but that it would need significant public education. It said it has no data to support the deep-hooking claim and that the 2020 single-hook rule addressed it. It added that a bait ban would bar worms, which novices and children often use. FWP said catch-card surveys show 44% of South Fork bull trout are caught in May and June, and 59% in the lowest stretch of the permitted river. It said the 2024 shortening of the season lets fish migrate to spawning streams without being targeted.
On Little Bitterroot, FWP said removing more than 1,000 mature females a year for eggs will likely affect the wild population. It said reduced limits or more stocking could offset that, but kokanee are in short supply. It called its proposal a conservative step to keep its stocking requests a priority and said it will continue annual spring netting and increase winter angler surveys.
Opposition to FWP’s direction surfaced in May at a public meeting in Kalispell. Pete Jeller, a commercial guide on Flathead Lake, told the Beacon at the time: “I’ve watched our opportunities decline and our interests get lost. [FWP] is supposed to be a steward of the sportsmen and the resource, not destroy it.”
In a written comment to FWP, Jeller said he opposes the 2027-28 regulation package “in its current form” and asked the department to consider “more balanced management strategies that protect both the fishery and public opportunity.”
Other commenters who identified as guides made specific requests in writing. One who has guided the lake for 20 years wrote that anglers should be able to keep small lake trout but only one over 40 inches: “We want our big lake trout back.” Another, who has guided for years, called a 20-fish limit “more than enough” and said FWP had ignored public opposition to the river’s treble-hook rule. A licensed guide and tackle maker said he opposed the direction of management on smallmouth bass, lake trout and northern pike.
Another commenter, who didn’t identify as a guide, asked for a 26-36-inch slot and a 20-fish limit, the same changes Wargo’s amendment makes. The commenter wrote that fish under 30 inches are the future supply of the protected slot. FWP declined the slot, saying the current rule is working.
On gear, a Flathead Lake guide objected to FWP’s draft definition that would have counted soft plastics and PowerBait as artificial bait, asking how that protects bull trout. FWP revised the proposal to classify soft plastics as lures. Other commenters, including one who wanted whitefish anglers to keep using jigs on the river in winter, raised the river’s treble-hook ban, which FWP said Proposal 1 doesn’t change.
Not everyone opposed liberalizing limits. Montana Trout Unlimited backed lifting the possession cap on lake trout. Flathead Valley Trout Unlimited supported removing limits on pike, rainbow trout and smallmouth bass, saying the lake’s dual jurisdiction was no biological reason to manage the fish separately. Conservation advocates have said the renewed focus on native trout is warranted because most trophy fish are the product of illegal introductions. Wargo’s amendment would reverse the proposals that Flathead Valley Trout Unlimited supported.