When Montana cities are registering new all-time high temperatures in June — Kalispell reached 101 on June 29, breaking the previous record of 95 set in 1979 — things are going to be bad for rivers. To protect fisheries, Montana FWP imposed restrictions on especially imperiled rivers across the state earlier this week.
I can personally attest to the conditions in the now closed section of the upper Big Hole River. I fished just downstream from the closed section, which felt like a bathtub, or at least a heated swimming pool when I hit it last week. I'm glad I didn't catch any trout. A fight and release is likely a death sentence in these conditions.