25 Sep Round Up: Noteworthy: TroutCast helps anglers and fisheries managers conserve trout

In response to severe droughts across the western U.S., an interagency collaboration has produced a new interactive web-based tool called TroutCast, which can be used to support fisheries and water management in Montana. With short-term and long-term forecasts, TroutCast helps inform proactive decision-making for conservation efforts across the state and gives valuable information for the recreational angling community.

Recreational anglers and outfitters have felt the effects of drought as reduced streamflows and elevated water temperatures strain trout populations. TroutCast is expected to benefit local economies by showing in real time how rivers are being managed during droughts and how drought is impacting trout populations. In the long term, this data will help inform proactive drought management instead of relying on reactive decision-making.

Developed in a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey, Montana State University, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Integrated Drought Information System, and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, TroutCast is a first-of-its-kind tool.

“TroutCast brings together decades of fisheries monitoring and streamflow records into a practical tool that managers and the public can use in real time,” says Timothy Cline of Montana State University. “It reflects a growing scientific understanding that river flow is a primary driver of trout production in rivers.”

This real-time use will help take some of the guesswork out of drought response. The tool drastically improves early warning systems and provides actionable data crucial for managing natural resources.

“This tool revolutionizes the state’s ability to communicate trends in fish populations, manage angling opportunities, and inform instream flows,” says David Schmetterling, research coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.

While the initial rollout of TroutCast focuses on Montana’s rivers, the interagency partnership plans to expand coverage into the upper Snake River basin in Idaho and Wyoming, with goals to cover additional drought-affected areas across the West.

For more information or to access TroutCast, visit usgs.gov/apps/troutcast.