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I'm not sure where else to ask this so I'm here. Fished Flaming Gorge last week from shore. Antelope Flats area. One day was very good fishing, one day not so much. Jakes Spin a Lure did best, but other lures also worked. Caught one lake trout and quite a few rainbows, but honest to goodness we caught more cutthroat than anything. Looked like Bear Lake cutts. I've never caught cutthroat there before. (But I don't fish there much. ) I've never seen reports talking about cutts. The Utah fish stocking reports do not indicate cutts. But these were cutts and the majority of our haul. Anyone else had that experience? Where do they come from?
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Wyoming has been planting them for a few years now.
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Thanks. I wondered if that was the case. I figured someone here would have the answer before I could research Wyoming stocking reports. Based on our experience the UDWR may have to start including cutthroat in their weekly fishing reports.
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No problem.
I had the same question three years ago when we started catching them during the Buckboard Derby.
I’m not sure what strain they are though...
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I caught a few a couple of years back, but not lately.
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I caught several through the ice last winter. Nice healthy fish. They were in much better shape than the pup lake trout.
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It has always had cuthrout. I used to fish it every opening when it used to open Memorial Weekend. The mouth of Cart Creek and Cart Creek itself was closed by the Dam and Sheep Creek was closed for the Cutthroat spawn.
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My friends used to hike down to Cart Creek from up by Flaming Gorge Lodge. A steep probably two mile hike down. And they would catch lots of big cutts. But they got caught and find for each cutthroat they had. That was back in the 70's.
Any sign of ice on the Gorge yet???
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Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery has been stocking them on the WY side of the Gorge since 2015. The bulk of them have been Bear River strain cutthroat trout, but the last couple of years some Colorado River strain have been stocked as well. The Bear River strain, which is what it sounds like you caught, has performed really well with reports of some 4-5 lb fish being caught. They've obviously made their way downlake into Utah, and I've even caught some down near the dam. The Bear Rivers have shown such success and anglers are happy with the additional opportunity, so there's plans to start stocking some on the UT side of the reservoir in the future. The WY quota will also switch to entirely Bear Rivers, being the Colorado Rivers have not been successful. Like you, I fished uplake a few weeks ago, just north of the Pipeline, and the bulk of my catch was feisty cutthroats as well.
Hope that helps, Ryno
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The only downside of the cutts is they are not as good eating as the rainbows.
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Heck i remember catching some cutts by the dam 30+ years ago. But ive caught more recently than ever and they've all been nice and healthy.
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