What To Do If You Catch A Tagged Fish
Surprise On The Clark Fork
April 13th was an odd day of fly fishing for me to say the least. It was a cloudy day, temperatures in the low 50s with off and on rain. A perfect day to chase a BWO hatch. I headed to the Clark Fork with hopes of hooking into a few trout on some dries. It didn't take long for me to realize that there were zero bugs in the air or on the water.
I tossed my dry dropped combo around for a while without any action. Greatly disappointed, I tied on a #10 green Drake Nymph and a #18 red midge under a trusty indicator. I get to the end of my first cast and hook into something big. As it turns out, I had hooked a great big, healthy sucker. I wasn't mad or disappointed because this fish gave me a great fight. But, I released him and cast out again.
The Tagged One
Five minutes go by, and I hook into another fish. This one I know is a trout by the way it shook its head. I bring him to the net and see it is a healthy male Cutthroat. Immediately, I notice there was what looked like a line hanging out of the trout. At first, I thought it was from a previous fisherman, but once I started looking closer, I noticed it was coming out of the trout's belly. I had caught a tagged trout. The wound was still fresh, for the stitches were bleeding slightly. I snapped a few pictures, fished another fish-less hour, and called it good.
Reporting In
A couple weeks went by and I started thinking about that trout again. I realized, I have some information Idaho Fish and Game would like to know. So I called IDFG who referred me to Shana Bernall with Avista. I filled her in on my catch and answered some basic questions like where I was fishing and how was the trout's health. Right when I mentioned where I caught the trout, Shana said "Oh that's code 49. He likes to hang out around there." She also told me that this trout was tagged and released at Big Eddy Boat Launch. Overall, I dealt with friendly people excited to hear from me, which makes me glad that I called it in.
The Cutthroat Restoration
After talking with Shana for a few minutes about the trout, she began filling me in on what was trying to be accomplished with these tags. The overall goal is to allow trout to migrate past Cabinet Gorge Dam, so they can reach any tributary they wish to accomplish their annual spawn. I learned that many juvenile trout will pass through Cabinet Gorge Dam, and stay in the Clark Fork or Lake Pend O'reille until they mature. Once mature, they will make a push to travel above Cabinet Gorge to spawn.
In fact, 2015 was the first year Westslope Cutthroat Trout were captured downstream of Cabinet Gorge Dam and passed upstream of the dam. This year, the goal is to tag 40 fish and transport them above Cabinet Gorge Dam this spring.
If you catch a tagged trout, I recommend you call it in to either your state's fish and game department or Avista. It is very fun and interesting to know what is being done to improve our local fisheries, and how I can help.