Fly Fishing for the Wyoming Cutthroat Slam - 5 Days of INSANE Trout Fishing!

The least populated state in America just happens to have some of the most amazing trout fishing in the world, and that state is wyoming. In this video I visited the state with the goal of completing their cutthroat slam, which involved catching the Yellowstone, bonneville, snake river, and Colorado river cutthroat trout. Challenges like this are always fun because they bring you to areas you’d never normally visit, and this one is not different. From fishing creeks that wind through a beautiful alpine meadow, to enjoying the back drop of some of the most famous mountains in the world, and ending it fishing what I consider to be the most insane place I’ve ever caught a trout, this video has it all. The Yellowstone cutthroat is arguably one of the most famous trout in not only Wyoming but all of the western US. The Yellowstone cutthroat is native to the snake river, falls river, and Yellowstone river which encompasses parts of Wyoming, Montana, idaho, Utah, and Nevada. They can get pretty big, with the current record being 31 inches long, which is pretty impressive for a native cutthroat trout. Their numbers declined significantly after the introduction of the lake trout, which caused a massive crash in the population, specifically in the Yellowstone River. Some reports were that as many as 70,000 cutthroat would spawn at the mouth of a single feeder stream, and that number dropped to around 500 in the early 2000’s. The numbers are rebounding, but slowly, with around 700 fish now entering the streams to spawn. This is just the story of one drainage though, with around 43% of their historic range still being occupied and reintroduction efforts happening across their range. They are not on the endangered species list. The next fish on the list is the snake river fine spotted cutthroat trout. This cutthroat trout is actually just a variation of the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, with finer, more dense spots than their counterparts one valley over. It is believed that at some points in the life history of these fish there was some movement across the continental divide, specifically around the “parting of waters” which is a natural landmark where one stream splits and drains to both the Pacific Ocean and to the Gulf of Mexico. The fish are managed differently however, due mainly to the difference in appearance and not because of any major genetic differences. Because these fish are so similar to the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, they live to be about the same age, which is 6-12 years, and get rather large with the record being over 30 inches. They are the official state fish of Idaho and are only native to wyoming and idaho, although the fish has been stock in states like Colorado where fish as large as 33 inches have been caught. The third fish on the list is the Bonneville cutthroat trout, which is actually Utah’s state fish even though I’m fishing in wyoming. They were historically native to the giant ancient Lake Bonneville, which covered large areas of Utah, Nevada, and Idaho and has shrunk over the course of the last 20,000+ years to what we now know as the Great Salk Lake. The fish is native to the Bonneville Basin though, which is essentially a giant basin that once held lake Bonneville. These trout are much more tolerant to warm waters due to the temperatures in their native range, with fish surviving in waters up to 76 degrees Fahrenheit. These fish historically got really large, with fish exceeding 15 pounds and 35 inches, however the current records are smaller, with Utah’s record being 10 pounds 2 ounces. This is due mostly to a shrinking of habitat forcing the fish to occupy smaller creeks and rivers, much like what you’re seeing me fish. The average life expectancy for these fish is around 7-8 years. The final cutthroat on the list for the challenge is the Colorado River Cutthroat trout. It is native to the Colorado River basin above the Grand Canyon which encompasses Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and a small portion of wyoming. The fish is listed as a species of special concern in Colorado and only occupies around 12% of its original range, with most populations being isolated to headwater streams without access to other populations. According to one stat I found, less than 5% of the former range is populated by trout with a high level of genetic integrity, meaning these fish need all of the help they can get. The trout’s main issue lies in habitat loss and stream degradation caused by development, logging, mining, and livestock grazing. In fact 62% of the robust populations of Colorado River cutthroat are in roadless areas, highlighting the need to keep roadless rules intact. They’re the smallest of the cutthroat species I’ve fished for so far in wyoming, with an average size of only 8 inches, although the record in Utah is 17 inches. Thanks for watching!! #outdoors #fishing #flyfishing #trout #cutthroattrout #wyoming #adventure #nature #troutfishing #pov #sports #howto