Beneath the sky-blue waters of Ashley Lake, an invasive fish species is living. A fisherman caught a non-native brown trout and turned it over to FWP. Then, a second “Browny” was caught in Church Slough and turned-over.
Brown trout are not native to the Flathead River drainage. Fisheries biologists tell us the Brown Trout prey on native fish and compete with them for food. There’s concern that the Brownies are infiltrating the entire Flathead River drainage. One was caught upstream of Pressentine last summer.
FWP biologists are trying to determine if there are enough mating pairs in Ashley Lake to begin reproducing.
Freedom Bank - Columbia Falls
