2004 Fishing Trip
"The 2004 Yellowstone Gang Adventure: Wyoming Cutthroat Slam"
2004 Yellowstone Gang (YG) adventurers: Al Miller (AM), John Richardson (JR), Greg Koenig (GK), & Andy Batcho (AB).
Several years ago the extensive fishing research (G2) done by the Yellowstone Gang led YG member JR to find the Wyoming Fish & Game website http://gf.state.wy.us/services/customers/cuttslam/index.asp that describes the "Wyoming Cutt Slam".
Viewing ESPN’s Trout Unlimited Television (TUTV) with Montana guide & host Tim Linehan also pursued the Wyoming Cutt Slam and produced a two-part television program on the subject which further spurred us to take on the challenge. Web links to the programs are: 1st show: http://www.tutv.org/1999_shows/wyoming1.html and 2nd show: http://www.tutv.org/1999_shows/wyoming2.html
The Cutt Slam criteria requires the participants to catch each of the 4 subspecies of Cutthroat Trout that live in Wyoming and document the fact via photographs. Wyoming Fisheries then provides the angler with a beautiful certificate documenting the accomplishment. To see the official Cutt Slam rules & view the Cutt Slam Certificate click the Wyoming F&G website above.
Each of the four Cutthroat subspecies require a totally separate drainage to exist to prevent cross breeding and the four in Wyoming are:
- Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Lives in the Yellowstone River, Madison River & their drainages that flow into the Missouri River, the Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico.
 | Snake River "Fine Spot" Cutthroat Trout Lives in the Snake River drainage, which flow into the Columbia River, to the Pacific Ocean. |
|
| Colorado Cutthroat Trout Lives in Wyoming’s Green River drainage, to the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon, to the Gulf of California. |
|
| The Bonneville Cutthroat Lives in the Bear River drainage, including the Smiths Fork, Hobble Creek and Salt Creek, ultimately draining to the Great Salt Lake. The name Bonneville comes from the ancient Lake Bonneville that flooded Utah. When it dried up, it left the Bonneville Salt Flats, with the remnants of the lake being the Great Salt Lake. |
For several years since JR’s find, the YG has had the quest for the Cutt Slam on their radar screen. Each year during deliberations over future fishing destinations the Cutt Slam was considered. During the winter of ’03 deliberations the Gang decided that ’04 would be the year to take on the challenge. AM had also contacted Wyoming Fisheries Biologiests who provided excellent fishing advice to help us with our Cutt Slam pursuit. We highly recommend contacting Wyoming State Fisheries Offices for advice on fishing in their State, they are subject matter experts and have always been extraordinarily helpful in providing information for our trip planning.
For the purposes of this trip, the YG would concentrate on the three Cutthroat sub-species that the members had not caught. The Snake River Fine-Spot, the Colorado & the Bonneville. YG members had caught many Yellowstone Cutts on previous trips.
Typically the YG drives to our destinations, but the Cutt Slam required travel to the Southwest Wyoming, so the Gang decided to fly to Salt Lake City, rent a vehicle and begin our trip from there, saving several days of travel at the beginning & end of the trip.