High water, students assist in trout rescue

Posted 11/1/18

Higher than average snow pack comes with at least one benefit for area anglers; fewer trout and other fish species will die in irrigation canals this fall across the Big Horn Basin.

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High water, students assist in trout rescue

Posted

Higher than average snow pack comes with at least one benefit for area anglers; fewer trout and other fish species will die in irrigation canals this fall across the Big Horn Basin.

The East Yellowstone chapter of Trout Unlimited held its annual trout rescue over the past week, ending Tuesday in the South Fork. Organizers of the popular event were pleasantly surprised in lower numbers of fish found in the waterways.

“The fewer we find, the fewer fish were entrained,” said chapter member Dave Sweet.

The number of volunteers was also high this fall, Sweet said. Club members were assisted by about 120 volunteers in saving just over 2,000 fish in seven days of work. The teams slosh through the drained ditches, looking for fish in remaining pools. They save an average of about 4,000 fish per year, with a record of more than 7,000 fish saved.

“We know we’re not saving anywhere near all the fish in the ditches,” Sweet added.

The solution to the problem is to keep the fish out of the ditches in the first place, he said. The club is working to install fish exclusion screens and have already installed six small systems around the area. But fish screens are expensive, costing more than $100,000 for small systems and as much as $1 million for large systems. Sweet knows it will be a long time before the club can end the annual rescue program.

“The end is probably not in our lifetime,” he said.

The future of the rescue program, as well as the chapter, requires attracting new members to Trout Unlimited. The chapter uses fun programs like the rescue for outreach as much as saving fish, Sweet said.

“We’re trying to reach out to young people as well as the general public,” he said.

Area schools supply the chapter with much of their volunteers. Ben Larsen, a science teacher at the Heart Mountain Academy in Cody, brought 12 students to assist with the project. He said the project is a wonderful experience for students to see what’s going on in the world and get hands-on experience in conservation.

“They love getting out of the classroom — and to help save the fishery is a cool opportunity,” Larsen said.

Students practically dove into to the task, several getting soaked while catching and releasing several trout species and other fish.

“I think where we live, the outdoors is such an integral part of our experience that getting them outside is pretty easy,” Larsen said.

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