Tag Archives: trout

We’re about a month away from the first mayfly hatch, and it’s getting to be time for a fisherman’s thoughts to turn to casting a fly on one of the magnificent wild trout streams along the Beartooth Front.

It’s something we take for granted, but a recent study by a team of researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS), including two based in Montana, found that changes in climate directly and consistently influence trout populations worldwide.

“The key message is that climate does have a strong influence on trout populations, and this is something we have observed over time,” said lead author Ryan Kovach, stationed at Glacier National Park. “We’ve seen that year-to-year variations in streamflow and temperature can have an impact on trout populations. This highlights that climate and climate change is not speculative, it is realized. It is something that we need to confront now in terms of natural resource management, but also from a societal perspective.”

As waters inevitably warm and river levels drop, it is critical that we do everything we can to minimize impacts on our native trout populations. Continue reading →