We hadn't fished the upper Ruby River for a couple years. So with that in mind we decided yesterday was high time to rectify things...check out how the grayling are doing and enjoy what is agruably one the more scenic trout streams anywhere. Set in the shadow of the stunning Snowcrest Mountains one side and the wildlife rich Gravellys (a favorite griz hangout to say nothing of elk, moose, mule deer and just about every other critter roams the Big Sky) the river corridor winds like a crazed snake thru several large ranches (Turner's sprawling Snowcrest Ranch is one) and eventually swallowed by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. With many miles of public water to fish where to start is the biggest question.
We started in a familiar run and several casts into it Gale hooked a large grayling (above). Note the fly: orange Stimi. No surprise there since Gale seldom chucks anything but...Anyway several hours later we called the reunion good and called it a day. For more on what this grayling thing is all about read the excerpt below from one of the Montana Grayling Recovery Program Annual Reports.
Arctic
Grayling Recovery Program
The
AGRP was formed in 1989 after declines in the Big Hole grayling population
caused concerns among fisheries managers and conservationists. The program’s
goals are to address ecological factors limiting the fluvial Big Hole grayling
population, monitor and enhance essential habitats, monitor abundance,
distribution, and population demographics, restore additional fluvial grayling
populations within native range, develop relationships that promote
conservation actions and inform the general public of fluvial grayling
conservation efforts and status. The AGRP includes representatives from FWP,
BLM, USFS, USFWS, MNHP, MCAFS, Montana State University (MSU), University of
Montana (UM), Montana Trout Unlimited (TU), Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL
Montana), and the National Park Service (NPS).
Big
Hole River
Introduction
The
fluvial Arctic grayling population of the Big Hole River represents the last
strictly fluvial, native grayling population in the contiguous United States.
The population abundance and distribution declined in the 1980’s, resulting in
an increase in efforts to understand population dynamics, identify critical
habitats, and implement conservation projects to address limiting factors.
These efforts have been directed primarily through the Arctic Grayling Recovery
Program (AGRP) and the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Program
(CCAA) for fluvial Arctic Grayling in the Upper Big Hole River.
CCAA Program
The CCAA program was developed in the Big Hole
drainage as a tool to implement conservation actions for Arctic grayling on
private lands. Under this agreement the USFWS issued Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks an ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) Enhancement of Survival Permit. The agreement
was executed on August 1, 2006, which gave FWP the authority to enroll
non-federal landowners within the CCAA Project Area (Figure 2). Enrolled
non-federal landowners are provided incidental take coverage and regulatory
assurances once the non-federal landowner, FWP and the USFWS counter-sign the
Certificate of Inclusion and the site-specific conservation plan for the
enrolled property (FWP and USFWS 2006). Since acquiring the Enhancement of Survival
permit, FWP has enrolled thirty-two private landowners, including 155,301 acres
of private land and 7,650 acres of state land into the CCAA program. The CCAA
includes partnering agencies that assist with the implementation and monitoring
of the Conservation actions and include the Department of Natural Resources and
Conservation (DNRC), U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource and
Conservation Service (NRCS), and USFWS collectively referred to as the
Agencies.
Site-specific
conservation plans will be developed with each landowner by an
interdisciplinary technical team made up of individuals representing FWP,
USFWS, NRCS and DNRC, The conservation guidelines of the CCAA will be met by
implementing conservation measures that:
Improve streamflows
Improve and protect
the function of riparian habitats
Identify and reduce
or eliminate entrainment threats to grayling
Remove barriers to
grayling migration
The CCAA Program will
help alleviate private property concerns, as well as generate support from
private landowners which will improve habitat conditions for grayling
throughout the Project Area (FWP and USFWS 2006). The goal for the population
of grayling inhabiting the Project Area is to increase the abundance and
distribution of grayling within the Project Area (FWP and USFWS 2006). The
Agencies will monitor biological and habitat response to conservation efforts,
project performance, and CCAA enrollee compliance throughout the life of the
CCAA agreement. Biological monitoring consists of annually monitoring ten
reaches to determine grayling population demographics and abundance. Monitoring
reaches will include one mainstem and one tributary reach within each CCAA
management segment. Surveys are also conducted in irrigation ditches on
enrolled properties to assess the impacts of entrainment on the Big Hole
grayling population. Habitat variables monitored include a vegetative/riparian
function component outlined by the NRCS Riparian Assessment Method, channel
morphology, instream water temperatures and streamflow discharge. Permanent
cross section and pebble count at a mainstem and tributary site have been
established within each CCAA management segment to document changes in channel
morphology. Instream water temperatures and streamflow discharge are recorded
at mainstem and tributary sites in each CCAA segment between April 1 and
October 31. FWP will use seasonal streamflow data, channel morphology
parameters and stream temperature in each management segment to correlate
grayling population trends to habitat conditions. The data collected from these
monitoring reaches and the resulting analyses will help the Agencies implement
adaptive management plans and respond to changing conditions (FWP and USFWS
2006).
Arctic grayling
conservation objectives initiated through the AGRP and the CCAA program within
the Big Hole Drainage from January 1 through December 31, 2008 included in this
report were to:
1. Promote and
initiate habitat-improvement projects that include: enhancing riparian and
channel function, enabling fish passage, improving stream flow dynamics and
minimizing entrainment into irrigation systems in the Big Hole River basin on
private land through CCAA enrollment area.
2. Develop and
promote landowner relationships and continually educate public and interest
groups of grayling conservation needs and status.
3. Monitor water
temperatures, instream flows and habitat parameters in the Big Hole River and
its’ tributaries.
4. Monitor abundance
and distribution of grayling and sympatric native and sport fish species in the
upper Big Hole basin.
Grayling conservation
efforts have been reported in the AGRP Annual Report since 1991
