Rainbows $$$

[drowning_flys]

This is the info i got just incase anyone was wondering


In February, Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists fitted 575 rainbows with tags that are not visible to the naked eye. Biologists hope anglers will start harvesting the non-native fish to claim cash prizes that range up to $1,000.
"It's time to quit messing around," said Dan Garren, regional fishery manager in the Upper Snake Region. "We need to protect native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and we have to get after rainbows to get it done."
The bounty is part of a two-pronged plan to kill more rainbows in the famed river. Fish and Game biologists and Bureau of Land Management officials are also putting freezers at two major boat ramps in the hope that more anglers will catch rainbows and donate them to charity.
Fish and Game officials are targeting rainbows in response to surveys taken last fall that showed rainbow trout greatly outnumbering cutthroats in the Conant Valley stretch of the river. Biologists worry rainbows will one day take over the river, pushing the cutthroat trout closer to extinction.
Yellowstone cutthroats are under siege. They inhabit less than 10 percent of their historic range and their strongholds, such as the South Fork, the Blackfoot and Yellowstone Lake, are threatened by rainbows, pelicans and lake trout, respectively.
If current trends persist, Yellowstone cutthroat trout could be listed under the Endangered Species Act, a move that could limit fishing on tributaries, end outfitted fishing on the South Fork and restrict irrigation.
"I am excited about (the bounties and freezers)," said Matt Woodard, Trout Unlimited's main advocate for the South Fork. "I think it's going to get a lot of people's interest. It better get their attention, because it won't take much to push these fish to the Endangered Species List and then life would change for a whole bunch of folks."
The bounty and the freezers
There are five rainbows in the South Fork with $1,000 tags in their heads.
The idea is simple: People won't turn back a rainbow if they think it can pay for a year's worth of fishing.
There are:
50 $200 fish
200 $100 fish
300 $50 fish.
After a day of fishing, anglers can bring the rainbows to Fish and Game's regional office to be scanned for a tag. If they have a winner, they get a check.
The tagged rainbows range from 5 inches to well over 20 inches, Garren said. Fish and Game considered putting a flat bounty on all rainbows, but the managers decided against it because of fears anglers would bring rainbows from the Henry's Fork.
If anglers want, they can put the rainbows in the freezer along with their names. The fish will be scanned at a later time to see whether it has a tag.
"We have to do something about getting people charged up about keeping these fish," Woodard said. "This should do it."
The freezers will be at Byington Boat Ramp and Conant Boat Ramp.
Anglers who don't want to gut their catch will be able to give it away and know it will go to the needy.
"The excuse in the past was 'I don't like to eat fish. I will just throw them back,' " Woodard said. "We are taking that excuse off the table."
Garren said anglers' tags were only placed in rainbows with white-tipped fins because cutthroats don't have white fin tips.
Garren hopes anglers will take part.
"We are at the range of palatable solutions," he said. "I am not sure where we go from here
[signature]