Last week MRF volunteers assisted crews from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the US Forest Service and the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Ennis National Fish Hatchery in capturing and moving more than 1,800 rainbow trout from Ruby Creek to the main stem of the Madison River.

The rainbow roundup is part of an FWP plan to introduce native westslope cutthroat trout to Ruby Creek, a tributary of the Madison in the Gravellys on the Wall Creek Game Preserve. The rainbow were removed and transplanted in advance of the creek being treated with rotenone to kill the remaining rainbows, which hybridize with native cutthroat.

MRF volunteers spent two days assisting crews electro-shocking the creek and capturing rainbows. Ruby Creek is a natural candidate for Montana's plan to preserve the native trout of the Madison. A natural waterfall barrier on the creek just upstream of the Madison prevents rainbows from the river moving into the creek. Once the stream is treated with rotenone westslopes from some remote Madison tributaries containing aboriginal cutthroat populations will be transplanted into Ruby Creek.

FWP's Madison fisheries biologist Pat Clancy noted how surprisingly productive the small Ruby Creek was, with rainbows up to 13 inches being captured for relocation to the river. This bodes well for the prospect of establishing a cutthroat fishery on Ruby Creek. "Based on what we saw, said Clancy, "we can expect a very healthy, abundant and vibrant westslope cutthroat trout population in Ruby Creek once the project is completed."

The work capturing the rainbows was often difficult. But the MRF volunteers and agency crews were very successful in capturing most of the trout and moving them to the Madison. In places the stream was heavily vegetated and steep and the fish holding water was tough to access. But the crews worked hard under some difficult conditions to recover as many rainbows as possible.

Ruby Creek is a beautiful mountain stream that flows out of a steep canyon into a broad, cottonwood meadow (photo above) just above the Wall Creek Ranger Station. The creek is located entirely on public land and is accessible for fishing.

Once again we thank MRF's intrepid volunteers who helped out on the project: Kelly Welch, Holger Schaarschmidt, John Gunn, Clete Oakley, Richard Wedel, Ben Coulter, Richard Garland, Bruce & Suz Richards, Bernie & Pat Oglietti, Dave Bricker and Jeff Montag.

Original 2012 Fly Fishing Festival Poster Art to be Auctioned
 

"In the Drift," the photograph by Ken Hall featured on the 2012 Ennis on the Madison Fly Fishing Festival poster, will be sold at a live auction during the festival's Main Street BBQ, Saturday evening, Sept. 1st.

The one-of-a-kind special edition of Ken's photo is printed on museum-quality canvas. The 24 X 36 gallery-wrapped print features a Madison River brown trout. Ken's nature photography is well known among collectors nationwide. His photo of the Madison at Three Dollar Bridge adorned the very first Festival poster in 2003 and it remains one of the most popular ever.

The print is currently on display in the window of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce on Main Street. Stop by and take a look.

Here is your opportunity to own this special and unique image. Imagine how great this stunning print would look on the the wall of your Montana home!

Ken will be on hand at the Festival Saturday afternoon, 4 pm to 6 pm to autograph festival posters. But this is the original image, the real deal, a one-of-a-kind piece of art from the photographer himself