The 2025 paddlefishing season begins Thursday, May 15 in the yellow and green tag areas.

That first day will be a catch-and-release day for the yellow tag area on the lower Yellowstone River. The first harvest day for yellow tags is Friday, May 16.

New this year, the green tag covers the Missouri River downstream of Ft. Peck Dam. Paddlefish snagging is allowed here seven days a week with an unused green tag, but there is no catch and release.

The yellow and green tag areas share a harvest target of 1,000 fish, and seasons in both areas have been shortened to May 15-June 15 or earlier if the harvest target is approached.

The mandatory reporting deadline for both tags is before transporting the fish or by 9 p.m. the day of harvest, and only via phone hotline or the MyFWP app. Anglers lacking cell service can now transport fish and once back in service have 48 hours to report harvest. Anglers can still use paddlefish stations and roving creel surveys for submitting biological data, but not for mandatory reporting.

A free paddlefish cleaning service will be available at Intake Fishing Access Site on harvest days.

The yellow tag area has significant changes for 2025:

• Paddlefishing limited to two sections of Yellowstone River: 1) from upstream edge of Tongue River confluence to Sullivan Creek confluence (1/2 mile downstream of Calypso Bridge); and 2) from Glendive Black Bridge to North Dakota line.
• Catch-and-release expanded to two Yellowstone sections on designated days, but anglers must have an unused harvest tag for current season to participate.
• Paddlefish can be snagged from a boat only when boat is beached on shore or on an exposed island, but once a paddlefish is snagged, boat can follow fish to land it.
• Designated harvest days Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Catch-and-release days Sunday, Monday and Thursday.

The application-only white tag season (Missouri River upstream from Ft. Peck Dam to Fort Benton), began May 1 and saw no changes for 2025. The archery-only blue tag area in the Fort Peck Dredge Cuts will be E-tag only this year, and runs from July 1-Aug. 31.

For more information on paddlefishing season, review the 2025 fishing regulations or visit the paddlefish page on FWP’s website at https://fwp.mt.gov/fish/regulations/paddlefish.

FWP will introduce an online dashboard with harvest estimates for the blue tag only this year. Anglers interested in weekly paddlefish harvest updates for the yellow and green tag areas can continue to check the FWP R7 Facebook page or call the Region 7 office at 406-234-0900.