August 2022 - 44

WYOMING'S NATIVE CUTTHROAT TROUT DRAINAGES
Snake River
Cutthroat Trout
Yellowstone
Cutthroat Trout
the public might want a nonnative trout
fishery to be maintained. This proactive move
is something that the department is mulling
in other regions of the state.
Moving forward with this information,
fisheries biologists attempt to build resistance
and sustainability into populations, said Joe
Skorupski, Game and Fish fisheries biologist
in the Cody Region. This led to expanding
an isolated population of Yellowstone
cutthroat in South Paint Rock Creek high
in the Bighorns recently, and has helped the
department narrow in on other restoration
projects such as Crandall Creek in the Clark's
Fork of the Yellowstone drainage.
" The Cutt-Slam has been an incredible
Bonneville
Cutthroat Trout
Colorado River
Cutthroat Trout
" The Cutt-Slam has been an
incredible tool. It gets people
excited about cutthroat and about
having these subspecies on the
landscape. " - Joe Skorupski
CONSERVING THE CUTTS
The other aspect of the Remmick vision
is native fisheries conservation. That, too,
has soared. For Trout Unlimited's Cory
Toye, who runs that organization's water
and habitat program in the state, the CuttSlam
paved the way for dozens of habitat
improvement projects on public and private
lands around Wyoming.
" The Cutt-Slam raised the profile of
native trout conservation across the state,
particularly on private land, " said Toye, who
notes landowners have sought out TU to
help with conservation projects that directly
benefit native trout, such as recent irrigation
improvements on the Greybull and Wood
rivers. " It has created an awareness from
water users, increased their willingness
to collaborate and created an identity for
these native fish that this is the only place
in the world where they can be caught. The
conversation has been made easier. "
The same goes for public land where the
Cutt-Slam's popularity has helped anglers
realize what a resource these native fish are,
Toye added. In places such as the Big Horn
Basin, Game and Fish went to the public over
several months in a " cutthroat collaborative "
to learn about where the fishing public might
want to see native trout restored and where
44 | August 2022
tool, " Skorupski said. " It gets people excited
about cutthroat and about having these
subspecies on the landscape. It's exciting
for people to travel around the state and seek
out these populations. People like unique
things, things that are different. "
Nick Scribner, Game and Fish fish
passage coordinator, has worked with TU
and others to help native trout and other
fish species move up and down systems
all over Wyoming. These are the kinds of
efforts Toye and others say have been boosted
and supported due to the popularity of the
Cutt-Slam.
" When you get into fishing circles
everybody asks about the Cutt-Slam, " Toye
said. " It has really created a buzz and will
continue to. It gets people out of their own
comfortable fishing spots and to really
explore some places where there are native
fish and see different places. They do it on
their own, they dig into it, they want to learn
more about it, they want to learn more about
these places and these important subspecies
of native trout. "
- Tom Reed is a passionate outdoorsman who lives
with his family not far from native cutthroat range.
A second edition of his popular book " Blue Lines, A
Fishing Life " is due out this fall.
Learn and plan your Cutt-Slam
adventure with the Wyoming Game
and Fish Department's interactive
guide: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/
Fishing-and-Boating/Cutt-Slam
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Fishing-and-Boating/Cutt-Slam
August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2022
