rate of 300 per surface acre. At the same time cutthroat trout fry 

 will also be planted into a second lake of the chain at the same 

 rate per acre. The perch will not be poisoned in the second lake, 

 leaving this lake as a control. The effects of this type of management 

 measure will be noted and its economic feasibility calculated. 



Bank Vs. Boat Fishing 



As a result of excessive pressure placed upon the Fish and 

 Game Commission by Flathead County sportsmen and sportsmen's 

 groups in 1953 to outlaw the use of boats for fishing on the North 

 Fork of the Flathead River, a study was undertaken during that 

 summer to determine the relationship of angler's success by fishing 

 with the aid of a boat as against that of the angler that did not 

 use a boat. The Commission has the desire to formulate regulations 

 needed for the fisheries^ conservation, but it desires to keep those 

 regulations to a minimum which are enacted for no other reason 

 than to satisfy a local demand. 



The Commission gratefully acknowledges the assistance given in 

 this study by the Department of Zoology, Montana State University. 



The following conclusions were drawn from this study: 



1. The fishing pressure exerted by boat fishermen was small 

 as compared with pressure exerted by bank fishermen. Likewise, the 

 number of fish caught by boat fishermen was small compared to 

 the number of fish caught by bank fishermen. Even though boat fish- 

 ing becomes more popular in the future and there was a significant 

 increase in boat fishermen, it does not appear that restricting this 

 means of taking fish would be justified. 



2. Boat anglers caught 31 percent of the fish while bank anglers 

 caught 69 percent of the fish. Outlawing boat fishermen would not 

 make the 31 percent of fish they caught available just to the present 

 bank fishermen for two reasons. 



First, it was observed many times that fishermen using boats 

 would tie up to shore and fish from the bank, thus becoming a bank- 

 angler. This would be entirely legal even though fishing from a boat 

 were outlawed. A goodly share of the 31 percent of the fish taken by 

 present boat fishermen would continue to be taken in this manner. 



Second, if boat fishing were prohibited in the North Fork, a por- 

 tion of the present boat anglers would simply fish from the bank as 

 do other fishermen, and continue to take their share of the 31 precent 

 in this manner. 



3. While boat fishermen are more successful than bank fisher- 

 men, their success is not unduly high. The catch per hour for all ran- 

 dom trout fishing ci-eel census in the state is 1.2. Boat fishing success 

 on the North Fork of the Flathead was 0.7 fish per hour. 



4. There is little doubt that fishing success has declined in this 

 river. Prohibiting fishing from or with the aid of a boat as a manage- 



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