Here’s some pictures of a couple of fish I caught on the South Fork in June. I didn’t catch anything very big but it was still a fun day.
This is a picture of a fine spotted cutthroat I caught on a #6 Supper-X
This is a picture of a cutbow I caught on a #19 X-Caddis. This one along with two other hybrids I caught that day were put into the cooler.
What do some of you think about keeping rainbows and hybrids on the South Fork?
i know what the state thinks. but i think they should let them be personally and leave the regs the same for the hybrids and rainbows. i have never caught enough to really see what they are saying about them. it seems they are still widespread still. this is a pic of a cuttbow i caught there last year. and i would like to hook more of them personally.
Keep what you will eat that day is what was taught to me. I pass no judgement on anyone untill they break the rules. The F&G do a great job on regulating species harvest in my opinion.
since i dont eat my fish they go right back in the water. i know they are asking, rather begging for people to keep the hybrids and rainbows but i just cant kill a fish if im not going to eat it.
is that palisades side of south fork brian?
Those pictures were taken in Swan Valley. The rainbow/cuttbow numbers have increase significantly in the South Fork over the last 10 years especially in the part of the river below Palisades Dam. I would guess that about only 10% or 15% of the fish that I catch in the South Fork are rainbows or cuttbows. I prefer the fight of a rainbow/cuttbow over a cutthroat any day but I still think it is a good idea to keep the rainbows/cuttbows in the South Fork. I’ve only kept about half the rainbows/cuttbows that I have caught in the South Fork the last couple of years because I wouldn’t eat them. I don’t like to keep wild fish but selective harvest is a very good management tool.