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Ruby River Blues

By Anthony Quirini

A controversy over river access is heating up on Montana's Ruby River. The outcome could decide the future of many of Montana's most famous trout waters.

n my book, there are two types of rivers: those that are worth a couple of visits, and those that become an obsession. For me, Montana's Ruby River is the latter.

The Ruby's solitude, challenging fishing, and big browns lure me back time and time again. The Ruby is a small river--in places only ten feet wide--and has a slow current with very few riffles. Banks choked with willows make this river hard to fish, and your skill with a rod will ultimately dictate your success.

Unfortunately, public access to this gem is even more challenging than the fishing. The difficulty is not due to its isolation (it's close to a road) but rather the closures made by landowners. The Ruby River borders ranch lands, and there are barbed wire and electric fences to keep cattle on the rancher's property.

Anglers who want access to this river face many obstacles. Although there are a number of access gates and pullouts, fences are strung across the river itself and at bridge crossings, making movement upstream or downstream nearly impossible. Montana law says the public has access to the river below the high water mark, but fences across the Ruby make access nearly impossible in some parts. Bridges, which are the common access, are usually strung with electric barbwire and no trespassing signs are posted everywhere on the riverbank.

The Ruby River access issue has been in and out of the courts for over a year. The decision on this river may determine all future river access issues in the state of Montana. The debate is two-sided: ranchers want to keep cattle on their land, and anglers want access to the river.

The Public Lands/Water Access Association has been at the forefront of this controversial topic. This group, based in Montana, has been suing Madison County (the county where the Ruby River is located) for the rights of all the public to float this river. But the debate goes on, as ranchers and adjacent property owners are now suing Madison County because of the fear of livestock getting loose and people trespassing on their lands.

This once quiet river is now at the forefront of a major debate, the outcome of which could decide public access to all of Montana's rivers. If the Madison County Court agrees with the landowners and bars access to the Ruby, there will be more court challenges throughout the state making access to our public lands and rivers more difficult--or impossible. The public needs to be aware of this topic because it is not only the Ruby River which is at stake, but all Montana rivers.

Anthony Quirini, is a former reporter for The Madisonian, in Ennis, Montana, and is a freelance writer and photographer based in Bozeman, Montana, who has been fishing for over 25 years.

Uploaded 08/25/2004.

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