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Trout Report 1/14/2017


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Finally got some low water on Norfork today, so I decided to drive over and do some wade fishing.  I got to the river around 12:00, which was right around when they shut the water off, and fished until dark.  I ended up throwing 1/16 ounce Zig Jigs nearly the whole time that I was there; I did throw some in-line spinners just before dark in the riffles.  I fished the Zig Jigs in runs and pools, and right where a riffle dumps into a pool or run.  The bite was good, and I landed 37 trout (31 Rainbows, 5 Cutthroat, and 1 Brown) and lost several others.  I caught several Rainbows in the 15 to 16 inch range, but didn't hook any big trout.  The Cutts ran from about 12 to 14 inches (I had 3 Snake River and 2 Bonneville strain Cutts) The Brown I caught was only about 10 inches. I lost a Brookie about 12 inches, which obviously messed up getting a "slam".  I had another Brookie chasing my jig when was reeling it in, but couldn't hook it. I posted a pic of a Bonneville strain cut below.  This strain of Cutthroat has larger black spots than the Snake River strain of Cutts, and the spots on a Bonneville become more prominent towards it's tail.  The Bonnevilles that are in the Norfork River are a result of TU and their egg box program; Bonneville's are not stocked by the AGFC.  The Snake River strain of Cutts, which have small black spots throughout their body, are stocked by the AGFC.          

Bonneville1.pngRainbow1.png

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That Bonneville is a great looking fish. Congrats on a good day on the water. How long ago did TU implement their egg box program? That looks like a 10-12" trout, which means it may have some age.

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2 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

That Bonneville is a great looking fish. Congrats on a good day on the water. How long ago did TU implement their egg box program? That looks like a 10-12" trout, which means it may have some age.

I was told TU started the Bonneville egg box program on the Norfork in 2012.  Also, the Bonneville in the pic was measured right at 14 inches.  A 14 inch Bonneville is likely a 3 year old fish.

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Will the egg box fish do better at natural spawning than hatchery fish? Some of the OG fly fishing guys feel like the Browns would do better if we stopped using hatchery stock and just did egg boxes from "wild" fish. The egg raised fish would spawn better. 

Ideas?

Every Saint has a past, every Sinner has a future. On Instagram @hamneedstofish

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that's the plan Ham.  they are hoping for a natural reproducing strain of cutts. All the little red river browns are results of egg boxes so that's a possibility.  The white is full of browns so I'm not sure what the difference in egg/hatchery would be but the stocked fish are reproducing well on the white... lots of reproducing going on out there in the shoals as we speak.  Would be cool to have the egg boxes going for browns on the white.

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Would be interesting to have a situation where we needed to harvest Brown trout on the White River

Every Saint has a past, every Sinner has a future. On Instagram @hamneedstofish

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Glad you had a good day. Some nice looking fish. I plan on being there 30th - 1st. Did any color Zig Jig work better than others. Have only fish there a couple times and only just below the parking lot. Any other places I should try and fly or lure choices I should try. Will bring both fly rod and spinning.

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