Salmon, Salmon, and Salmon--Any Questions?

While Marc Kloker of MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks is hesitant to surf the unsteady crest of speculation concerning the future, he and barroom soothsayers alike agree that Northeast Montana is experiencing a fishing boom of unprecedented proportion.

On the heels of the region’s myriad July walleye tournaments, August promises to be, zodiacally-speaking, the Month of the Salmon.

“I and the FWP biologists want to keep more of a scientific look [on fishing],” says Kloker. “We’ll keep it scientific, give the public some good information...[but] I don’t want to get into the bar-talk.”

Kloker balks at perpetuating rumor, shying away from the wild-stab fickleness of guessing at one given week’s “top” fishing spot, and rightly so – such things are no more than trends, wavering as whimsically as a badlands wind, changing hour-by-hour.

Gene Moore, however – resident baitmaster and reel guru, and owner of Lakeridge Motel and Tackle – is not so reticent with his educated guesswork.

“I’d fish the dam, [and] I’d fish it in 70-115 feet,” he says. “Fleshers and squids with no bait, or fluorescent squid of some kind.”

Meanwhile, Kloker and his team stick to the facts. Here follows a list of key facts and figures, as provided by Heath Headley, Fort Peck Reservoir Biologist, for those interested in both the history and current state of salmon fishing in the area:

FWP began stocking Chinook into Fort Peck Reservoir in 1983. They were introduced to offer a unique angling opportunity and to utilize the coldwater habitat, as well as to feed on a growing population of cisco -- also known as lake herring -- that inhabit the reservoir.

Nearly 80 percent of the anglers that visit Fort Peck Reservoir target walleyes, but creel surveys show that Chinook salmon are the next most targeted species there -- beating out other popular fish like northern pike, smallmouth bass and lake trout.

Currently, this is the only Chinook population in Montana. Anglers will travel as far as the Dakotas, Wyoming, and western Montana to partake in this unique fishery.

Shortfalls in habitat conditions in the reservoir prevent the fish from successfully spawning on their own, so adults are collected in the fall during their spawning period. Adult salmon are collected through the use of an electrofishing boat. Eggs are collected from females and milt from males so they can be fertilized and then sent to the Fort Peck Hatchery.

Currently, the majority of the salmon caught this summer are on the smaller side (averaging five pounds). This is due to a large group of two-year old fish in the population. A combination of good stocking numbers (230,000) coupled with a high abundance of cisco have assisted with their growth and survival. Cisco serve as an excellent forage base but can also buffer predation rates from other predatory fishes.The state record Chinook salmon was caught in Fort Peck Reservoir in 1991 and weighed 31.13 pounds.

Despite his differing means and methods of relaying information, Moore lauds the current ease of snaring that night’s family dinner on the water. “Lake fishing has been excellent [this year]. We just saw a couple 21s come through here today.”

Moore sees the end of this summer’s uptick as being far removed from the present day. “The salmon should be around through the end of August,” he relays. “This is better salmon fishing than we’ve had for 12-15 years.”

Whether you follow Moore's advice and fish the dam or test your casting acumen in some dredge cut or cove far across the lake, the amalgamated message of biologists and amateurs alike rings clear: Grab your tackle box, empty the bilge, and get busy.