LAUREL — Thanks to high temperatures and low water flows, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have issued hoot-owl fishing restrictions on 17 rivers in the state.
That means fishing is prohibited in parts of those rivers during the hottest hours of the day until conditions improve. It's something Billings fishermen Scott Duprey and Greg Strozzi are all for.
“Today was a nice day to get out early," said Duprey at Riverside Park in Laurel Sunday.
Duprey and Strozzi thought they would beat the heat by going fishing early in the morning on the Yellowstone River.
“The fishing was good today, but the catching was terrible," joked Strozzi.
All jokes aside, it's not Strozzi's fishing skills that are making it difficult to get a bite.
The high temperatures of the summer along with low water flows have prompted FWP to place hoot-owl restrictions on 17 rivers in the state.
“It's been a long time since I've seen such a hot, dry July with plus 100-degree temp days, you know," said Strozzi.
Fishing is prohibited in parts of those 17 rivers from 2 p.m. till midnight.
“I think that’s a good thing,” Duprey added.
These restrictions are in place to protect the fish in the state's rivers.
"It's stress. It's stress on them and you release them back into a warm water and it stresses them out even more," said Duprey.
Water temperatures of 77 degrees or more can kill trout.
“You catch fish in the afternoon when it's closed. There's not enough oxygen in the water, and most belly up and die. So, yeah, I'm all for it," Strozzi said.
It's a rule both Duprey and Strozzi are gladly following, even if it means waking up a bit earlier to go fishing.
"It's incredibly important. If you favor wildlife in any sort, that fish are wildlife. And they are something that we need to protect," said Duprey.
