|
Most popular Montana fish: The most common fish caught by anglers in the state is the rainbow trout, although walleyes, northern pike, smallmouth bass, perch, and other trout species are also very popular. Many of the fish in Montana are called wild fish, which means they were hatched and raised in the wild. In fact, Montana is world famous for it's wild trout fisheries. But not all fish in Montana are wild fish. Hatcheries are important, too, to help sustain fish populations in many bodies of water. Hatcheries operated by the state of Montana produce over 40 million fish to be stocked in state waters each year. About 3 million of these fish were rainbow trout, 2 million were kokanee salmon, and about 34 million are walleye. Other species: Montana has 86 species of fish, and nearly all of them can be caught by anglers. Other popular species in the state include catfish, sturgeon, paddlefish, crappie, burbot, whitefish, other trout species, and suckers. No matter where you live in Montana, there is some kind of fishing nearby and some kind of fish out there waiting for you. It's up to you to get out and find it! The native species: Of the 86 species of fish in the state, about 56 are considered native. That means that the species was found in Montana before the mountain men, early ranchers, farmers and other settlers arrived. Our state fish, the Cutthroat Trout is native, as are many other popular species like sauger, paddlefish, blue suckers and shovelnose sturgeon. In some places, introduced fish species have taken over and hurt populations of native fish. In other places, some native species are holding their own. |
| Click to close window
Montana PikeMasters Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks |