After a round of cooler temperatures and rain in recent weeks in much of southwest Montana, state officials are removing some fishing restrictions and closures that have been in place for much of the back half of the summer.

On Friday, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks lifted hoot-owl fishing restrictions, which limited fishing hours to before 2 p.m. each day, on stretches of Silver Bow Creek and the Bitterroot, Clark Fork, Beaverhead, East Gallatin, Gallatin, Madison, Ruby and Smith rivers. Most of those restrictions had been in place since early July.

And on Tuesday, FWP lifted to full fishing closure on the Jefferson River from the confluence of the Big Hole and Beaverhead to its confluence with the Missouri, and reduced closures on the upper Madison River to hoot-owl restrictions.

On t

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