bull trout. Although all bull trout caught by anglers were released, bait and lure anglers 

 with barbed hooks accounted for 78% of all bull trout caught. 



't 

 Angler Data 



Catch and release fly-fishing continues to be the most popular type of angling on 

 the Blackfoot River. In 1 994, forty two percent of anglers exclusively fly- fished (Peters 

 and Workman 1996), compared to 69% in 1999 (Schmetterling and Bohnemann 2000) 

 and 79% in 2004. Regardless of gear type, Blackfoot anglers released 98 % of all fish 

 caught, compared to 95% in 1999 (Schmetterling and Bohnemann 2000) and 84% in 

 1994 (Peters and Workman 1996). In 2004, eight percent of all Blackfoot anglers 

 surveyed used bait compared to 30% in 1994 (Peters and Workman 1996). 



These increases in fly-fishing and catch and release reflect a parallel trend in the 

 2004 Clark Fork River angler surveys (Knotek 2005). Catch and release for trout were 

 98 % and 97% for the 2004 Blackfoot River and Clark Fork surveys and 38% more 

 Blackfoot fly anglers used barbless hooks compared to Clark Fork fly anglers. Overall, 

 the number of Blackfoot anglers using barbless hooks (all gear types) decreased fi-om 

 65% in 1999 (Schmetterling and Bohnemann 2000) to 58% in 2004. The 1999 survey of 

 barbed/barbless hooks was based on a questionnaire, while the 2004 results were based 

 on visual inspection of the hooks. 



Fish Identification 



The intended effect of fishing regulations relies on anglers knowing and 

 understanding regulations as well as their fish identification abilities. Bull trout are often 

 the least identifiable to anglers in Montana. Although fishery managers have 

 implemented protective regulations for native trout, unintentional harvest is occurring 

 because of angler inability to identify the trout species (Schmetterling and Lx)ng 1999, 

 FWP unpublished data). 



Most anglers surveyed easily identified rainbow trout. However, identification of 

 native bull trout and WSCT was less successfiil. Angler identification skills of native 

 trout species were relafively consistent between catch-and-release and harvest anglers 

 with a 63% success rate. Non-resident anglers were 41% less successfiil at identifying 

 both native trout than resident anglers. Cumulatively, only 51% of the angler sub- 

 categories (resident vs. non-resident and catch-and-release vs. harvest anglers) correctly 

 identified both bull trout and WSCT. Overall, angler ability to identify trout species was 

 poor, with only 38% correctly identifying all five species. Anglers intending to harvest 

 fish had more difficulty identifying all five trout species with a 20% success rate 

 compared to 42% of catch-and-release anglers. The success rate by Montana resident 

 anglers on our fish identification test increased 19%, while non-resident anglers showed a 

 1.3% increase in fish identification skills compared to a 1996 study. 



Brook trout were the most often-misidentified trout species, followed by bull 

 trout. All anglers that misidentified bull trout most often confiised the species with 

 brook trout and vice versa. Bull trout were also misidentified as brown trout. Anglers 

 who misidentified WSCT often confused the species with brown trout. 



The inability of anglers to identify most trout species on western Montana waters 

 is well documented (Schmetterling and Long 1999; Schmetterling et al. 2000). The 

 general results from this study, coupled with the results of these previous studies, suggest 



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