Bitterroot River April 6 - Dusty Bernard Crew

I was hoping to get a few more photos from these guys but haven't yet...so here are the few that were on Jack's camera. This group is from San Diego and always fishes this time of year with Wapiti Waters...they love to fish, just look at the smiles.

Bob Ratcheson on the Bitterroot with Jack in early April

Bob and Peggy fished with Jack...the day was a little cold (as has been this Montana spring) but the catching was good.

Bitterroot River April 10 with Jeff Rogers

All the fish photos are Jeff holding his fish. The boat photos are a wooden boat going over the diversion dam. All went well.

Fly fishing the upper Bitterroot with Roy Loman in early April

Trout (of course), Pileated Woodpeckers, ice, and on the next day - a cow moose. Interesting times on the Bitterroot. Love the spring.

Rachel fly fishing on the Bitterroot River in March

A day on the river with Jack learning all there is to know about fly fishing - though she has been fishing with Jack since she was very young. On this day, she rowed a lot, but that didn't stop her from wetting her line and catching a lot of nice fish. What a gorgeous spring day.

Doc Bolton fly fishing the Bitterroot River in mid-March

John came up for his spring fix in Montana and fished a few days with Jack. He caught one of the biggest trout ever on his first day fishing. Of course, they didn't have the camera that day. So...here is another trout. Not a bad fish. There is definitely something special about spring fishing and John hit the perfect weather window.

Doc Bolton and a fat trout

Jack's Koffler boat on the Bitterroot

Jeff Rogers on the Bitterroot River in mid-March

Jack and Jeff caught three Northern Pike on this day as well as plenty of trout. These were the only two photos they took though. Cool day, but very doable and good fishing.

Jeff with a nice trout

Unexpected visitors, 3 women on horses crossing the river.

Montana House Bill 187: replace guides with assistants? Not a good idea.

Montana HB187 creates unlicensed temporary guides called outfitter’s assistants to replace licensed guides who are injured or absent. These “emergency guides” could be a positive solution used by professional outfitters when 1) there’s a bonafide emergency, and 2) the clients of an outfitter and the public are protected. But, as written, the bill fails in both cases, and more. This is reposted from the FOAM blog. Read on.

Representatives of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association (MOGA) and the Professional Wilderness Outfitters Association (PWOA) who drafted the bill talk and testify about only using OA’s in somewhat rare emergency situations, but nowhere in the bill is the term ‘emergency’ used or defined in order to justify replacing a guide with an outfitter’s assistant (OA). Without requiring proof of a definable “emergency,” the bill lets any outfitter replace any guide any number of times during a season with an OA for a limited time – up to 15 days – without having to declare or prove an emergency situation or pay for a guide license.

Who cares? We do, and so should the public, right along with Montana legislators. Some reasons why:

• The OA’s are unlicensed, so they dodge a mandatory background check for prior violations as a professional license holder or any criminal convictions in MT or elsewhere – a prerequisite for anyone seeking to be licensed for any profession in Montana. Without this check, even the well-intentioned outfitter may not really know the background of the person they’re putting in the field with clients.
• Licensed guides are required to have first aid training; unlicensed OA’s are not. Clients served by an OA may be at risk in a medical emergency, particularly in rough back country.
• Licensed Outfitters are held accountable for actions of their licensed guides. But, this bill does not hold a hiring outfitter accountable for an OA’s violation of any Board of Outfitters or FWP laws or rules while serving clients. We believe accountability encourages compliance and responsibility with regulations that safeguard the public served by licensees. Without accountability, public welfare is jeopardized.
• Montana outfitter license rules require an outfitter to get written permission from a client before changing their rates. We think the bill should have similar language for personnel changes, requiring the outfitter to tell the client when an OA replaces a licensed guide. It just makes sense to bring the client into the decision whether or not to continue the trip without a licensed guide. We believe full disclosure helps everyone work out a satisfactory solution to any true emergency.
• Since they’re not licensed, OA’s won’t have a valid guide license. The Board of Outfitters must somehow create a document for OA’s to carry in the field to replace that license as proof of compliance with this new law. We can’t think of a way to track on paper the fifteen-day limit for each OA, much less show which day of the 15 is current when an OA is checked in the field. Since no one knows when an emergency will happen, this document will have to be issued to all outfitters each year just in case it’s needed, and the circumstances of the replacement situation may not be known until the end of the license year. This documentation is intended to enforce compliance, but we just don’t see how that might work.
• With no licensing, there’s no fee to “create” or pay for administration of OA’s. The term “outfitter assistant” will have to be added to many board rules and even some Dept. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks rules. So, who’s going to pay for rules covering these new OA’s? All licensed outfitters and guides, one way or another. Simple rule-making can run as high as $1700 and up, not to mention the cost of administering whatever rules are eventually developed.
• Worse, without the various sideboards mentioned, some less ethical outfitters may well replace guides with no-cost OA’s, directly reducing the board’s income and requiring all licensees to pay more in fees to make up the difference. Our members don’t want to pay higher license fees to subsidize uncontrolled use of OA’s.
• FOAM has dealt with similar emergency guide replacement issues by simply licensing one or more guides to be used in other capacities in the field – think “freighters” who row the gear boats on the Smith river – or as standby help who may be available on short notice. Consider that our outfitters and guides are in the field for up to eight months statewide, starting fishing trips every day, and a survey of our outfitter members shows very infrequent need for an emergency replacement guide that could not be handled by having a spare guide or two available.

MOGA and PWOA representatives backing the bill claim this spare-replacement-guide technique will not work in their business model, even though there is evidence other MOGA members have used these auxiliary licensed guides in a variety of camp capacities or had them on standby for quick replacement.
The FOAM Board of Directors agreed to oppose HB187 for these and other reasons, including the fact that such uncontrolled, unsupervised, and unaccountable behavior may well lead to abuse that can tarnish or degrade the outfitting industry in the public’s eyes. Simply put, we believe public safety and honest dealings are more important than any outfitter’s business model.

FOAM is proud of it’s professional, responsible outfitter and guide members, and we see no reason for the legislature to pass a proposed law that, even with the best intentions, does nothing to account for, discourage, or punish abuse of public safety and welfare by even one outfitter falsely employing an outfitter assistant in a bogus emergency.

We’re not alone in this thinking. The Montana Board of Outfitters is responsible for protecting the public health, safety and welfare by qualifying outfitter and guide license applicants. With this charge in mind, the board met via a conference call on Tuesday, Feb 5, and voted 4 to 2 to oppose HB187 for many of the reasons we’ve stated: no mention or definition of emergency in the bill, the OA is not vetted for prior violations and has no first aid training, and the hiring licensed outfitter cannot be held responsible or disciplined for the unlicensed OA’s behavior, lack of first aid training, or violations of law and rule.
We believe the outfitter board would agree that, by and large, members of the outfitting and guiding industry are responsible professionals who run outstanding, quality operations. But, because the board members deal with disciplinary cases involving outfitters and guides, they are well aware that some licensees use questionable business practices that skirt or break the law.

FOAM has worked for years with our fellow hunting outfitters, and, like a family, when one of your brothers or sisters is headed down the wrong path, we owe it to them to try to set them straight. We have asked MOGA and PWOA representatives to amend this bill to address our concerns. So far, few changes have been made.

We also think this issue is important for the public, because, aside from all the internal administrative questions and costs, there’s still the issue of public safety. Would you want to be on a hunting trip out in the field with an OA with an unknown past who has no first aid training? Would you want a nonresident relative – or any nonresident visiting Montana for our quality hunting – to be with an OA? To us, the potential risk of a client guided by an unlicensed OA must be balanced with some degree of control and accountability. Unfortunately, HB187 does not set that balance.

If you’re a Montanan and you agree with us, go here, then click on “Senate Roster by Name” to find the Montana senator in your district and ask them to oppose passage of HB187 as written.

MONTANA SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Feb 2013

Snow pack in the Bitterroot is 82% of normal as of today, Feb 25, 2013. Right now, a winter snow storm just blew in and there is a white-out outside my office window. That is GREAT news! Here are the tables showing the data. See the links below the photos for the NRCS site.

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/snowup-graph.pl?state=MT

 
ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/mt_swepctnormal_update.pdf

2013 Feb skiing Gash Peak in Montana

The top of the climb

Winter in Montana is a wonderful time to explore the Bitterroots. Mark, Skip and Jack skinned up the Bitterroots in the Gash Creek and Peak area in mid-February. Here are a few photos taken by Mark. Enjoy. Here is the slideshow

FWP hosting a women's ice fishing workshop Feb. 8-10

BIGFORK - If you don't want to wait until spring to start fishing, Fish, Wildlife and Parks is hosting a women's ice fishing workshop Feb. 8-10 at Peterson Lake.
A $100 fee pays for all fishing gear, food and two nights lodging at a camp on the shore of Peterson Lake near Bigfork.
The workshop is sponsored by FWP's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Program.
Beginner and intermediate anglers are welcome. Activities include learning to use ice fishing rods, tip-ups, ice augurs and sonar fish finders. Participants don't need a fishing license.
For more information, call BOW coordinator Liz Lodman at 406-444-9940 or email llodman@mt.gov.
Click here for an online registration form.

Ice Fishing — February 8-10, 2013

Near Bigfork, MT

Fee: $100

Don't sit inside waiting for the long winter months to pass by. Put on some warm clothes, get outside and try ice fishing. This workshop is at Big Sky Bible Camp with a very short walk to Peterson Lake. You'll learn to use ice fishing rods and tip-ups and other gear like ice augers and sonar fish finders. The workshop is for beginner and intermediate anglers and includes some optional indoor activities and night fishing. The registration fee includes all your fishing equipment, 2 nights lodging dn meals from Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast.

• Beyond BOW Ice Fishing Brochure ( 857 KB)

Doc Bolton on the Bitterroot in early October

Doc came a little later this fall than usual. He was waiting for the fire smoke to clear. Probably a good strategy. The sky cleared up, temperatures cooled and fishing was good. Great to see both Doc and Liz! Hope they both come back up in the spring.