New state records set for cutthroat and golden trout

Two Idaho fishing records were recently broken by anglers fishing central and eastern Idaho waters.

On Aug. 7, Sam Hix of Bellaire, Texas, set a new catch-and-release state record for Yellowstone cutthroat trout after landing a 30.5-inch monster while fishing the Snake River in Bingham County.

“After measuring the fish and taking a quick photograph, Hix released it to swim another day,” Idaho Fish and Game said in a news release. “His fish tops the long-standing record set by Nate Ivy in 2016 (28.5 inches) and will set a very high bar for future Yellowstone cutthroat trout records.”

The other new record fish was a 19.7-inch golden trout caught by Joseph Putnam Evans in Pass Lake high in the backcountry near Leatherman Peak in the Lost River Range. Putnam and his wife Huan Zhou were backpacking in Idaho from North Carolina.

“Joseph caught the remarkable trout on July 20 using a wet fly (rigged on spinning tackle),” Fish and Game said. “After a quick measurement and photo, he released the 19.7-inch golden trout to claim a new catch/release record.”

Golden trout are native to high elevation streams and lakes of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains in California and have been planted in several Idaho alpine lakes to provide more fishing opportunities, according to Fish and Game.

Yellowstone cutthroat trout are mainly found in eastern Idaho and are native to the Snake River from Shoshone Falls upstream to its headwaters, and they are one of four subspecies found in Idaho. Idaho Fish and Game keeps state records for all game fish including Yellowstone, Bonneville, Westslope and Lahontan cutthroat subspecies.

Fish and Game started keeping catch-and-release fish records in 2016. To learn more about the program and see records on various fish caught in the state, go to idfg.idaho.gov/fish/record.

Post Author: By POST REGISTER

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