IN THE FIELD Anglers are asked to report if they catch tagged trout in the North Fork of the Shoshone River and Buffalo Bill Reservoir near Cody. (Photo by Joe Skorupski/WGFD) Anglers contribute to fisheries research near Cody Reporting tagged fish help Game and Fish manage trout resource By Game and Fish staff Each year fisheries management crews for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department devote thousands of hours to surveying fish populations in Wyoming's streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. From April through October biologists and technicians deploy an array of survey techniques to evaluate the performance of sport fisheries and update the status of sensitive native fish populations. Although the techniques differ, all these efforts have traditionally been led by a brigade of red shirts. 12 | May 2022 But in 2020 a research project near Cody flipped the Game and Fish standard scenario of fish data collection on its head. Anglers were asked to contribute valuable data to a research effort - a form of citizen science not used before in the region. Fisheries managers needed anglers to add information to their research to better understand seasonal distribution of trout in the North Fork of the Shoshone River and Buffalo Bill Reservoir west of Cody. Each spring Game and Fish biologists capture, tag and release about 2,000 migrating rainbow and cutthroat trout in the North Fork of the Shoshone River. These highly migratory trout spend the winter months in Buffalo Bill Reservoir and migrate into the North Fork and all 26 of its major tributaries to spawn in the spring and early summer. After spawning some fish spend the summer in the North Fork. Others quickly return to the reservoir. The research helps inform current and future management of this unique, self-sustaining wild trout fishery. The research's success is dependent upon anglers reporting the tag numbers and tag