
MONTANA LEGISLATURE SHIRKS RESPONSIBILITY
Weather Cold - Fishing Hot
California To Slap Boaters ??
Quagga's Threaten Utah
Weather Cold - Fishing Hot
California To Slap Boaters ??
Quagga's Threaten Utah

.. The law is simply worded and not ambiguous: people can access their water from public property and use that water between high-water marks. Back in 2000, Montana's attorney General, Joe Mazurek said:
"Montana's Constitution guarantees the public the right to use all of our state's waters for recreation, our legal research revealed that bridges on county roads are basically the intersection between two public rights-of-way: the road and the stream or river. When the public has the legal right to use both, it wouldn't make any sense to conclude that people can't use the point where they intersect."

.. And, lest the pictures of jury-rigged barbed wire and electric fencing fool you into thinking that this is just

.. 10 years ago the issue was reignited by the need for county workers to access bridges in order to maintain these structures. They discovered that hunters and fishers were being illegally excluded by the attachment of private fencing to public structures - which also excluded the county workers. The conflict from it's inception is well documented by Three Rivers Park, in their series of excerpted articles.

.. The New West article posted yesterday brings us up to date on the current status of the issue.

.. By avoiding their responsibility, the current legislature will allow this issue to go to the courts and deprive the public of their say in the issue. Given the players, and the attitude of moneyed interests, this promises to be a grand fight indeed. Fishers and the rest of the public stand to have their constitutional rights decided by entities outside of Montana because the legislature is not doing their job.
.. Those folks interested in how avoidance works in Montana can follow it at the official Montana State Legislature site.
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.. The Madison River tailwater fishery between the lakes has seen a few of the large fish enter the stream. Spawning will begin any day now and by this weekend, or next - for sure - will be at the point that we will abandon this stretch of water to the fish and those that would trample redds.

.. The ice and snow is off Cabin Creek. It warmed enough last week to produce a silt plume and is beginning to see some fish. About a week's worth of fishing is available here before spawning takes place. This is an excellent time to use a rubber legs Golden Stone imitation, or a yellow Montana Duster: sizes 8 - 12 are producing well now.
.. If you happen to find yourself on the north side of Yellowstone National Park, stop in at Park's Fly Shop. They report that there is some surface action beginning on the Yellowstone River near Gardiner, (can you say BWO?)
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.. They also report that the Quagga Mussel is poised to invade the waters of Utah. It will be only a matter time before these too, are in Yellowstone's waters.
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.. The map at the bottom of the page is slowly growing and has attracted the attention of the Platial Blog. - - - - - - - We're flattered.