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After day 1 seemed like on internet connection went south so here’s the follow up. Decided to run up the lake to the confluence of the Green and Black Fork and worked back down from there. Water is off color compared to the breeze area but the fish were willing, finally found some good grade fish 2-3.2lbers, 26-30’ otw was the depth, 1.7-2.0 on the gps, gold or purple apex’s and chartreuse/orange, pink/purple hoochies worked for us. Ended up fishing from the confluence down to current creek for the rest of the trip, caught kokes, Browns, cuts, bows and pups. Weather went from shorts and running the AC to heaven jackets and heaters. Had great evenings with friends I hadn’t seen for a couple of years, with group dinners every night we ate well. Made up some salmon ceviche that was soooo good.
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Man, I cant remember the last time I caught a cut at the Gorge. Nice trip
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Well there was no shortage of them up lake
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Good report. I especially like your picture of the koke jumping out of the water. It reminds me to stop and appreciate the great scenery we experience while fishing. Sometimes I get too caught up in catching. Reminds me also that I need to up my game in photo documenting all aspects of my trips, not just the final catch of the day.
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I haven't caught a brown in many many years out of their but we did catch quite a few cuts this winter through the ice. No real size to them though. Hope they grow up!
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Great job! Glad you found some better fish!
It appears they stocked Browns in the lake 5 or so years ago because we went from catching none to hooking into a few.
They started putting bear river cutts in here about the same time. Why? I have no idea. I’d rather see the native colorado River cutts over just throwing another species in just because....but it does make for a fun change of pace. Supposedly theres some up over 4 lbs.
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4 lbs + cuts would be cool. Time will tell.
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Hi. What dodgers were you using and how long of
Leaders? Thanks for your help
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5.5” dodgers from RMT, MAG Tackel and Paulina Peak, orange, pink, gold, hyper plaid
9” leader on hoochies
18” on apex’s
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Cutthroat trout have been stocked in the Gorge by Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery since 2015. Jones Hole is operated by the Fish and Wildlife Service and it was an administrative decision/change within that agency to stock more native fish than non-native, hence the move from rainbow trout to cutthroat trout. In 2015 and 2016, about 100K Bear River cutts were stocked annually, due to the availability of those eggs in Wyoming. In 2017-2019, the quota for cutthroats was doubled to 200K, half of which was Bear River and the other Colorado River cutthroat trout. Unfortunately, there's been extremely little return the last three years for the native Colorado River cutthroat trout, but as noted by anglers and in reservoir sampling, the Bear River cutthroat trout are returning very well with good growth rates and condition. So far, anglers report being are very happy with the additional species and the increased diversity in their catch.
Hope it helps, Ryno
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So is this the Colorado with the spots concentrated near the tail
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Looks like a Bear River, judging from what we've observed in the Bear Rivers that have been planted in the Gorge. The spots appear smaller and uniform in size, yellowish hue, pale abdomen, orange fins, etc. It does get tough to tell at times, so I even discussed and confirmed with a counterpart at WGFD.
Hope that helps, Ryno
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[quote Ryno]Cutthroat trout have been stocked in the Gorge by Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery since 2015. Jones Hole is operated by the Fish and Wildlife Service and it was an administrative decision/change within that agency to stock more native fish than non-native, hence the move from rainbow trout to cutthroat trout. In 2015 and 2016, about 100K Bear River cutts were stocked annually, due to the availability of those eggs in Wyoming. In 2017-2019, the quota for cutthroats was doubled to 200K, half of which was Bear River and the other Colorado River cutthroat trout. Unfortunately, there's been extremely little return the last three years for the native Colorado River cutthroat trout, but as noted by anglers and in reservoir sampling, the Bear River cutthroat trout are returning very well with good growth rates and condition. So far, anglers report being are very happy with the additional species and the increased diversity in their catch.
Hope it helps, Ryno[/quote]
I understand that fully. My argument is they want to “return the fisheries into a more naive environment” but then stock a cutthroat species that’s not native??? It’s quite the head scratcher in my small brain. A cutthroat is not a cutthroat in my opinion and if emphasis is going to be put on “native” then let’s put the right ones in there or none at all. They stock bear river in the flaming gorge and snake river in the green river. It makes zero sense.
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The FWS goal is to not return fisheries to native, but to do more native fish production. In the past they raised mostly rainbow trout and kokanee, but now it's mostly cutthroat trout. Stocking cutthroat trout was one way to keep Jones Hole production going to Flaming Gorge. They recognize some subspecies of cutthroat trout are not as suitable in certain environments. The Gorge is one of those examples, and based on what's being observed, Colorado River Cutthroat Trout are not going to perform well whereas Bear Rivers already are. Starting next year the full cutthroat quota (210K) from Jones Hole will be Bear River Cutthroat Trout. They still stock about 300K kokanee salmon as well.
Hope it helps, Ryno
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