The Utah Cutthroat Slam has begun! Starting this year, anglers can learn about conservation, explore the state, and help support trout initiatives by catching all four native cutthroat species found in Utah. Conservation of native wildlife is a major focus for the Division of Wildlife Resources, and Utah’s fish is a top priority. So they teamed up with Trout Unlimited to put on this unique and fun angling opportunity.
The Utah Cutthroat Slam works like this:
- Register – for $20, you can sign up online. The cash raised will go directly to fund native cutthroat conservation projects around the state.
- Fish – catch and release each of the four Utah cutthroat trout subspecies in their native waters. These include the Bonneville, Colorado River, Yellowstone, and Bear River Cutthroat Trout.
- Take a Photo – after you catch your trout, snap a photo of it to certify your catch. Send it in with a description and location of where you caught it.
- Finish – upon completion, you will be awarded a certificate, and custom medallion.
The Utah Cutthroat Slam is more than just catching fish. To complete it, you must seek out the fish in their home ranges. So to catch Yellowstone Cutthroat you’ll need to explore the pristine waters of the Raft River Mountains in the state’s far northwest corner. For Bear River Cutthroat, catch them at Bear Lake or in the Bear River on the Uinta’s North Slope. Bonneville Cutthroat encompass the west part of Utah from Ogden to St. George. And for Colorado River Cutthroat, fish the waters in Eastern Utah from the Uinta Mountains to Escalante.
For the cutthroat you catch to qualify, you must catch them in their native areas. That means if you catch a cutthroat in Strawberry Reservoir, it won’t count because those fish are not native to that drainage. For a complete map of which cutthroat can be found where, check out the Utah Cutthroat Slam website.
Whether you’re a veteran angler or a goal-oriented beginner, sign up for the Utah Cutthroat Slam. You must sign up in 2016, but you can take as long as you need to catch all four, whether it’s a week, a year, or a decade.
To register, sign up at the Utah DWR website. For more information about Utah’s Cutthroat and the slam, go to utahcutthroatslam.org