Lower portion of Beaver Creek in Hill County to be closed to fishing

From Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Editor's note: Due to an error on the part of the Havre Daily News, this release did not run last week as requested.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be closing approximately 25 miles of lower Beaver Creek to fishing and bait collection, from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, 2015. The closure is taking place as a result of dam repairs on Beaver Creek Dam being conducted by Hill County.

Hill County will be repairing Beaver Creek Dam starting Sept. 15 and lasting up to 45 days. The repairs require that water flow to Beaver Creek below the dam be shut off for the duration of the project. Adjustment in flows and the fishing closure will begin Sept. 1 to allow fish to adjust to the change. The closure will be in effect downstream from the dam on Beaver Creek Lake to the mouth of Beaver Creek on the Milk River near Havre.

“Shutting the flows off to 25 miles of Beaver Creek will definitely have some impacts but we hope that cooler temperatures and the numbers of beaver dams and pools in the stream will minimize these” said Havre Area Fisheries Biologist Cody Nagel. Regardless, concentrating fish in pools with limited opportunity to move will stress fish due to reduced water quality and crowding. Closing the creek to all fishing during the project will help reduce some of these impacts.

FWP has the authority to close streams and other body of water if it’s determined that angling pressure has the potential to contribute to excessive fish mortality.

For questions on this closure, please contact fisheries biologist Cody Nagel at 265-6177 at the FWP Havre office.