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This year, all Dredge Cut paddlefish tags are electronic tags
FORT PECK – July 1 marks the beginning of the archery-only paddlefish season in the Fort Peck Dredge Cuts below Fort Peck Dam, and it runs until August 31. Archery anglers need to purchase a 2025 blue paddlefish harvest tag to target paddlefish in the Dredge Cuts, and no snagging is allowed.
Starting this year, this tag is only available as an electronic tag (E-tag). This electronic tag can be purchased over the counter at FWP offices, license vendors, or online at any time.
As in previous years, harvested paddlefish are required to be reported within 48 hours. Anglers can self-report their harvested paddlefish and voluntarily submit a dentary (jaw) sample at three self-creeling locations near the Dredge Cuts: Floodplain (Winter Harbor), Nelson Dredge, and Roundhouse Point boat ramps. Anglers can also report online at myfwp.mt.gov, or by calling the phone hotline (1-877-FWP-WILD or 406-444-0356).
Anglers reporting harvested paddlefish that provide all necessary information: angler tag number, jaw tag number (if present), length (eye-tail fork), sex, date of harvest, and also voluntarily submit a dentary (jaw) sample will receive a unique 2025 Montana paddlefish hat. These data allow biologists and managers to understand age structure of the population and ensure sustainable management of paddlefish in the future.
New catch card required to harvest shortnose gar
In the past, shortnose gar were considered nongame fish and were often targeted by bow anglers. Starting this year, the harvest of shortnose gar will require the possession of a free “catch card” that will be good for the harvest of three gar during the 2025 calendar year. Bow anglers that plan to target shortnose gar, along with hook and line anglers who plan on angling for gar, even for catch and release, will need a catch card.
The new catch card will not only limit the amount of gar that are harvested per angler, but will provide biologists valuable information on harvest rates, length and weight data, distribution, and more.
To acquire a shortnose gar catch card, stop by the FWP Region 6 Headquarters office in Glasgow, open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Questions regarding the Dredge Cut paddlefish season, reporting paddlefish harvested in the Dredge Cuts, or about the new shortnose gar catch card, can be directed to Region 6 fisheries manager Tyler Haddix at 406-808-7067 or thaddix@mt.gov .
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