Rainbows $$$

[jimpete525]

I was reading the fish and game fishing report on the south fork (snake) and they said that there are some rainbows with tags in there heads that might be worth some money. Does anyone have any more info on this like how many fish They have tagged or how much they might be worth? Has Anybody else herd of this?

Thanks
Jim[fishin]
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[curt69]

There are just over 500 fish tagged . With a cash value of $50.00 to $1,000 Dollars . You can't see the tags . The fish have to be scanned at the fish and game Dept. and they only do it one day a week . You can leave the fish head with your name and number and if it is a winner they will contact you . Curt G.
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[L_P_R]

Only rainbows have the tags in them. There is no limit on the bows and cut-bows. The fish range in size from 6" to 20"+. They want you to keep all the rainbows you catch.....don't throw any back in the river to get bigger.
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[ChrisTheFish]

It was also mentioned that the tagged fish have white tipped fins.
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[chrome_junky]

i know that cutthroat rainbow hybrids have white tip fins.
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[LakeDrifter]

Whats up with the rainbows?? whirling disease or something? And do you guys now is it the swan valley area?
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[ductaped4runner]

they want them out of the river because they aren't a native fish. and they are breedin with the cutts makin cutbows. which from my understandin they are sterille. so between the competion for food and what not they are lowerin the numbers of the cutts. but over the past couple of years i have noticed a big increase in the number of cutts that i have been catchin.
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[jimpete525]

I believe it is because they are getting to be too many and they are competing with the native cutthroat. I could be wrong but I think that is y. As far as which section of the river they are in I have no Idea.

Jim[fishin]
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[jimpete525]

Do you know when they tagged these fish and has anyone herd of anyone catching any?

Jim[fishin]
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[curt69]

They want to take out all of the rainbows and cuttbows in The South Fork of the Snake . The part of the river they are talking about starts at Palies Res . Dam down to where the North Fork and South Fork come together . If they can't get a handle on them , they are talking about making the cutthrouts an endanger species and closing all fishing on the river . They have installed freezers at Conant and Byington boat ramps so if you don't want to take them home you can donate them . If you leave your name and number with your fish they will scan them for tags . If you have caught a tagged fish they will contact you so you can get your winnings . Curt G.
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[iliketofish]

The hybrids are fertile, which is even more dangerous, because when the hybrids spawn they keep passing on their hybrid genes...
there are sterile hybrids, like in Henrys Lake, but they are made to be that way at the hatchery.
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[StacyR]

I thought that they only stocked triploid rainbows, which are sterile? Or were these these stocked before they switched and bred in the river?
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[jigs]

the fish that are tagged are sterile. they are planted to create hype and get ppl to keep the rainbows. but the original bows were not sterile and thats the ones that are spawning with the cutts and deluting there strain.
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[jimpete525]

Its to bad that we need to kill off the rainbows and hybrid. What a waste of fish.[frown] I understand that we need to protect the native cutthroat but i would rather catch a rainbow then a cutthroat . They seem to put up a better fight. But if it will help the river and keep it open for us all to enjoy then I guess it is worth it.

Jim[fishin]
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[windriver]

From what I understood they electroshocked the rainbows and put the electronic tags in them. They then let them go back in the population. These tags are supposed to build the pressure to kill them. The fish and game has been asking that we kill the rainbows for years in the South Fork of the Snake.

Most people prefer the fight of rainbows to cutthroats the big deal is if the cutts go on the endanger species list there is a real danger of the Feds coming in and closing the whole river while they take over the erradication of the rainbows. So it is better if we take this serious and kill the rainbows and keep one of the states blue ribbon treasures open to the the general public.

Windriver
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[Cotton_Released]

Native wildlife and fish fill an ecological niche that is often left unfilled by non-native species. If you see a loss of a native species it is very likely that you will see changes up and down the ecological chain. Just look at what the Lake trout have done to the cutties in Yellowstone Lake...

I don't view harvesting all of the bows to be a waste. Not only can you eat them (or give them away), but you are helping keep the fish managed by the state and not by Uncle Sam. Once a species gets low enough in numbers to , HELLO lots of new, not-so-fun regulations. The USFWS examined the fish in 2006 and found it didn't warrant being listed so I suspect the State of Idaho is doing everything in its power to keep it that way.
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[jimpete525]

If the rainbows are becoming such a problem I would think that the fish & game could electroshock them and take them out of the river and control there population much faster then the fisherman could.

Jim[fishin]
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[windriver]

Electro shocking only hits small areas at a time. It would take forever to shock the whole river. With hundreds of people floating the river on any given week during the summer. The fish are much more likely to be removed if everyone keeps the ones they catch.

Windriver
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[jigs]

im curious how many rainbows you guys catch on a normal outing. i try to get up to the southfork a couple times a year, but i have only caught a handful, have caught tons of cutts, browns, and even lakers but not many rainbows.
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[windriver]

I only fish a couple of places on the South Fork. I have seen quite a few rainbows caught in one of those places. I would say 1/3rd with the other 1/3rd being browns and 1/3rd cutts seems like a pretty even distribution. It also depends on what what you are using. It seems to me when I am dry fly fishing I catch mostly cutts. When I am rapala fishing or streamer fishing we catch mostly browns. When we are spinner or bait fishing seems like we pick up a lot more rainbows. Might be wrong but that is how it seems.

Windriver
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