March 2023 - 8

NEWS
Wyoming fishing challenges
continue to attract anglers
CHEYENNE - A positive trend
continued in 2022 for one of the Wyoming
Game and Fish Department's most
prestigious fishing challenges.
The Cutt-Slam added 123 anglers who
caught and documented Wyoming's four
native subspecies of cutthroat trout. It is
the fifth consecutive year more than 100
anglers achieved this feat. Since the CuttSlam's
inception in 1996, 2,212 anglers
have joined the club by catching Bonneville,
Colorado, Snake River and Yellowstone
cutthroat trout. Cutt-Slam recipients receive
a personalized certificate and vehicle decal
from Game and Fish, and since the summer
of 2018 a medallion from Wyoming Trout
Unlimited. Anglers from three countries and
48 states have completed the Cutt-Slam.
Only Kentucky and Rhode Island do not
have residents who completed the challenge.
The Cutt-Slam was the idea of the late Ron
Remmick, a former Game and Fish fisheries
supervisor in the Green River and Pinedale
regions who worked for the department for
25 years. Remmick developed the Cutt-Slam
to draw attention and appreciation for the
habitat needs and management efforts for
Wyoming's cutthroat species.
" Completing the Cutt-Slam is a great
way to learn about Wyoming's four native
subspecies of cutthroat trout and see some
fantastic country while you are doing it. It
can also be a great family project, spending
quality time outdoors fishing, " said Alan
Osterland, Game and Fish fisheries chief.
Anglers also added their names to some of
the other fishing challenges offered by Game
and Fish. The Master Angler program awards
anglers for catching certain species of game fish
of specific lengths. Since 2019, 4,105 anglers
have been recognized, including 226 Trophy
Anglers and 33 Ultimate Anglers. Trophy
Angler is given to those who catch five species
of game fish at a qualifying length. Ultimate
Angler is 10 game fish species at a qualifying
length. In 2022 the Ultimate Angler program
saw two kids become the youngest to achieve
that status - Tristen Brodrecht of Casper and
Julius Clark of Buffalo. Both were 15 when
they completed it.
Game and Fish has awarded 369 kids since it
established a Youth Fishing Challenge in 2010.
This was created to introduce young anglers
to the diversity of fish resources in Wyoming
and expand their angling skills. Game and Fish
issues collectible certificates to eligible youth
who complete one of seven challenges.
In 2012 Game and Fish created the
X-Stream Angler program to showcase some
of the state's most important streams and the
work the department has done to protect
water flows. The program encourages anglers,
and anyone who values flowing waters, to
seek waters where instream flow water rights
have been obtained by Game and Fish over
the years. Through 2022, 158 people have
been recognized.
- Robert Gagliardi, WGFD
SCAN THIS QR CODE
TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE FISHING
CHALLENGES OFFERED
BY THE WYOMING GAME
AND FISH DEPARTMENT.
8 | March 2023
March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2023
