Slightly 



Crowded 



9% 



Very Light 

 38% 



Figure 61. Responses when asked to 

 rate the amount of use by other 

 anglers and recreationists at the 

 present locations they were fishing. 



Results of Regulations Knowledge and 

 Angler Compliance 



All anglers and guides surveyed 

 possessed current licenses and regulation 

 compliance was 100%. Most anglers 

 (76%) had a copy of Montana fishing 

 regulations with them (Table 19). A 

 majority of anglers interviewed knew the 

 special angling regulations for bull trout 

 (78%) and WSCT (63%) although 

 differences were noted between resident 

 and non-resident anglers. Ninety-seven 

 percent of resident Montana anglers 

 compared to 64% non-resident anglers 

 knew the special regulations for bull trout 

 and 8 1 % of resident, compared to 49% of non-resident anglers knew special WSCT 

 regulations. Fifteen percent (n=35) of interviewed anglers indicated they were going to 

 harvest fish, of which 80% and 71%, respecfively, knew the special angling regulations 

 for bull trout and WSCT, compared to 61% and 77% of all catch & release anglers 

 interviewed. 



Table 19. Compliance and knowledge of regulations among various angler groups on 

 the Blackfoot River in 2004. 



Creel data 



Of the 237 anglers interviewed, 145 (61.2%) had accumulated time fishing. These 

 anglers caught 196 fish in 350 hours for a total catch rate (all fish) of 0.56 fish/hour. Of 

 this the catch rate for trout species of 0.47/hour, 



Seventy-nine of 237 anglers surveyed were float anglers. The majority of these 

 (n=47) had not yet begun fishing at the time of the interview. The remaining 32 float 

 anglers accumulated a total of 95 hours of fishing, averaging 2.97 hours/angler. These 

 anglers captured 30 fish (15% of the total catch) for a catch rate of 0.32 fish/hour. We 

 surveyed 1 58 bank/wade anglers, of which 45 had not yet begun to fish. The remaining 



88 



