The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Andrew, That fence is illegal unless they put access over/around it. Montana is a recreate state not a navigable state. That means that if you can fish on it you can access as long as you stay below the high water mark. This has been tested many times and the state judicial system has upheld. You can now also access rivers and streams from a county or state bridge even if a fence is tied to the bridge. That decision just passed. Ranchers must provide a bypass of the fence.

Oh, and I forgot. What you saw on the lower river is what is refered to as the bikini hatch. It can be rather entertaining when a thunderstorm on through.