HELENA – Recently, we sat down with FWP Fisheries Division Administrator Adam Strainer. His one-year anniversary as chief coincides with the 50th anniversary of Norman Maclean’s novella, "A River Runs Through It." Do the two milestones have anything in common? We asked him.
"The story always reminded me about family," he said. On the bookshelf next to his desk is a first edition of the book. "My spouse gave me an early edition for the birth of our first child."
Like the brothers in the story, Strainer grew up fly fishing. He learned the technique from his grandfather, who, like the anglers in the book, carried a wicker creel and cast a bamboo rod with flies like a Bunyan bug tied to the end.
As a kid growing up in East Helena, his grandmother would drop him and his cousins off a few miles upstream of a relative's house along Prickly Pear Creek. The kids would fish their way back to the house, bringing her a few small ones for her frying pan.
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"As an adult I discovered a career focused on two things I dearly love – fish and being outside," he said.
Strainer has been with the department for more than 22 years. During that time, he said he worked nearly every rung of the ladder in the fisheries division before becoming the chief last year.
Strainer and his staff continue to tackle challenges such as drought, aquatic invasive species, growth of water-based recreation and the needs of Montana’s native species. The division also wants to encourage anglers to diversify their fishing portfolio.
"There's a seasonality to fishing success in Montana – small streams, large rivers, reservoirs, high mountain lakes," he said. "Anglers can learn to be proficient at all angling tactics like spin fishing, fly fishing and ice fishing."
They can also pass on the angling interest and traditions to future generations. One of the ways Strainer connects with "A River Runs Through It" is its focus on family dynamics.
"You could see yourself and your family out there enjoying the river," he said.
Not the avid fly angler he was as a kid, Strainer has taught his own son and daughter how to fish – with whatever’s working and with what they know how to use.
"We do whatever’s most efficient," he said. "One of my favorite pastimes now is taking my kids trolling for Kokanee or pitching spoons for trout and walleye. We keep it simple and enjoy all of the angling opportunities Montana has to offer. All of it."
