Proposed limits on fishing guides on the Madison River

Squaw Creek said:
No, guides & NRs should be restricted only. Like the Beaverhead & Big Hole. This is both reasonable & justified. DIY Residents should come first. The upper Big Horn needs this more than any other MT River right now.
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The same for highways. I don't want non-residents plugging up my roads on Thursdays and Friday. Plan you vacations accordingly.
 
To the initial topic, I floated the Madison yesterday and since I was forbidden from hauling the boat up here on family vacation by my better half, I hired a guide. We talked a lot about this. He is in favor of usage regulations, but brought up an angle I hadn’t thought of.

he works for a very wealthy guy with multiple ranches in SW MT (recently sold one near here for high 8 figures - so not your run of the mill quarter section hobbyist) - he said the proposal allowed for some number of total user days, but a guy with 10-20 Million could simply buy up all the user days and basically privatize the river. It was the first thing his boss thought of/mentioned. Now, obviously any ruling would have some kind of non-commercial-use carve outs, but that was an interesting angle.

I will say that we saw only One (!) other boat from Storey ditch to 8-mile, which I didn’t think was possible in July, and despite the smoke, the fishing was great until noon.
 
cedahm said:
To the initial topic, I floated the Madison yesterday and since I was forbidden from hauling the boat up here on family vacation by my better half, I hired a guide. We talked a lot about this. He is in favor of usage regulations, but brought up an angle I hadn’t thought of.

he works for a very wealthy guy with multiple ranches in SW MT (recently sold one near here for high 8 figures - so not your run of the mill quarter section hobbyist) - he said the proposal allowed for some number of total user days, but a guy with 10-20 Million could simply buy up all the user days and basically privatize the river. It was the first thing his boss thought of/mentioned. Now, obviously any ruling would have some kind of non-commercial-use carve outs, but that was an interesting angle.

I will say that we saw only One (!) other boat from Storey ditch to 8-mile, which I didn’t think was possible in July, and despite the smoke, the fishing was great until noon.
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Might be because most folks are not fishing due to drought conditions & water temps. Folks tend to stay away when it gets publicized, even if it's open for fishing.
 
cedahm said:
To the initial topic, I floated the Madison yesterday and since I was forbidden from hauling the boat up here on family vacation by my better half, I hired a guide. We talked a lot about this. He is in favor of usage regulations, but brought up an angle I hadn’t thought of.

he works for a very wealthy guy with multiple ranches in SW MT (recently sold one near here for high 8 figures - so not your run of the mill quarter section hobbyist) - he said the proposal allowed for some number of total user days, but a guy with 10-20 Million could simply buy up all the user days and basically privatize the river. It was the first thing his boss thought of/mentioned. Now, obviously any ruling would have some kind of non-commercial-use carve outs, but that was an interesting angle.

I will say that we saw only One (!) other boat from Storey ditch to 8-mile, which I didn’t think was possible in July, and despite the smoke, the fishing was great until noon.
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The user days would be allocated to the outitters currently guiding on the river, so unless someone bought out all of the outfitters, that wouldn’t happen.

I also think the state would likely limit what one person could own.

I don’t see the scenario described as being very likely.
 
I started this tread over 3 years ago and the Madison and every other river in SW MT is much more crowded now. Something has to give. A lot of fish are going to die in this heat.
 
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I know a lot of guides and like them, but paying someone to put you on fish, tie your knots, and fix your lunch seems to defeat much of the mystery and challenge of fishing. Might be worth severely limiting guided trips on blue ribbon water and encourage people to put in the time to become a competent fisherman on their own.
 
Southern Elk said:
The user days would be allocated to the outitters currently guiding on the river, so unless someone bought out all of the outfitters, that wouldn’t happen.

I also think the state would likely limit what one person could own.

I don’t see the scenario described as being very likely.
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I agree and those were basically the first two questions I asked, but buying out the few large operators and/or forming a dozen separate llc’s to circumvent permit/operator limitations is not a huge hurdle for guys with sufficient capital. The main obstacle is “willing seller”, but Imagine the shops being offered the equivalent of decades of operating income in one fell swoop for their permits…would certainly make them at least consider it.

But I still concur it’s unlikely, just saw the thread revived and I hadn’t thought of that angle until yesterday.

Southern Elk said:
I started this tread over 3 years ago and the Madison and every other river in SW MT is much more crowded now. Something has to give. A lot of fish are going to die in this heat.
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yep. I won’t fish the Madison the rest of the week despite looking at it from the porch. Launching @ 6:45a was prudent. I dislike recreational use regulations on public resources as much as most, but these Uber popular waterways need a break as populations continue to grow and dangerously warm weather periods lengthen - same with the Upper CO, Roaring Fork, et al back home.
 
The entire Madison from the mouth to the boundary of Jellystone natural Park is now under hoot owl restrictions. Host of other rivers, too - Jellystone, Missouri, Stillwater, and more!
 
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