whitefish. Stocking of hatchery rainbow trout was ceased in 

 1979. Two species of special concern (as designated by AFS), 

 westslope cutthroat and bull trout, are present throughout the 

 drainage. Although present in low densities, one of western 

 Montana's best trophy fluvial bull trout population resides in 

 the Blackfoot River. 



Stream discharge on the Blackfoot River near the mouth 

 averages 1,633 cubic feet per second (cfs) and extremes recorded 

 near Bonner have ranged from 19,200 cfs (June 10, 1964) to 200 

 cfs (Jan. 4, 1950) USGS (1986). Instream flows for fish and 

 wildlife habitat maintenance purposes were appropriated for the 

 Blackfoot River in 1970 by the Montana Fish and Game Commission 

 and legislative action. The instream rights (referred to as 

 Murphy Rights) span the 34.7 mile reach from the mouth of the 

 Clearwater River to the mouth at Bonner. Instream flows were 

 claimed by seasonal time periods: 650 cfs, September 1 to March 

 31; 700 cfs, April 1 to 15th; 1,130, April 16 to 30th; 2,000 cfs, 

 May 1 to June 30; 1,523 cfs, July 1 to 15th; 700 cfs, July 16 to 

 August 31. 



The Blackfoot River has had limited fisheries assessment 

 work since 1972. Renewed interest and concern for this fishery 

 surfaced recently because of accelerated mining activity and 

 timber harvest in the drainage, and increased angler use and 

 dissatisfaction with the trends in fish populations. These 

 factors, along with supplemental funding provided by the 

 Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited, resulted in this first year 

 of assessment of the Blackfoot River fishery. One year of data 

 collection is obviously not sufficient to evaluate the fisheries 

 of a major river system. The efforts of this first field season 

 were designed to address general questions regarding fishery 

 concerns, and perhaps more importantly, to provide direction for 

 continued work on the Blackfoot River. 



The general objectives for this project were: (1) to gather 

 baseline fish population information on the Blackfoot River; (2) 

 to conduct a preliminary creel census to determine catch rates, 

 species and size composition of the catch; and (3) to attempt to 

 identify important bull trout spawning areas and conduct annual 

 redd counts. 



