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SALT LAKE CITY — Some fish you catch will no longer count toward Utah’s fishing record book starting in 2020, and 4 different subspecies of cutthroat trout will now be tabbed by the state.
The changes to fishing records, which state wildlife officials announced Monday, include archiving native nongame fish records. Those are the Utah chub, the Utah sucker and the white sucker, according to Utah Division of Wildlife Resources spokeswoman Faith Heaton Jolley.
Species that are no longer in Utah, like brownbow and albino trout, and the state’s cutthroat trout record will also be archived at the end of the year, added DWR sportfish coordinator Randy Oplinger.
Instead of having one cutthroat trout record, the state will break it down by four different subspecies prominent in the state: Bear Lake, Bonneville, Colorado River and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. It wasn’t immediately clear if the general record set by “Mrs. E. Smith,” who caught a 26-pound, 12-ounce cutthroat trout at Strawberry Reservoir in 1930 will remain on the books, or if that will be removed in favor of the four subspecies.
All previous records for the archived fish will remain in Utah’s books, but officials will no longer accept entries after 2019 concludes.
Most of the changes to the records were made to help nongame fish to thrive in the state, Oplinger explained. They are also smaller fish that aren’t as exciting to catch as larger fish species, he said.
“A lot of these are kind of endangered fish, or they’re sensitive species that aren’t the most abundant in the state,” Oplinger said. “And we want to make sure there’s no fishing pressure on them; because when there’s the ability for someone to go out there and catch a record fish and get their name in the record book, that sort of incentivizes them going after some of these fish.”
As it currently stands, there are 33 catch-and-keep and 34 catch-and-release records kept by the state. The changes would add four catch-and-keep and four catch-and-release records to reflect the subspecies changes. In addition, there are 21 spearfishing, six setline and three archery records kept by the state. The state first began tracking fish records in the early 1900s, according to the division.
In addition to the announced changes, state officials recognized five fishing records were set this year. They include:
- A 1 pound, 2.88-ounce golden trout caught by Isaac Vance at Marsh Lake (keep)
- A 44.5-inch striped bass caught by Heather Litke at Lake Powell (release)
- A 48-inch lake trout caught by Matt Smiley at Flaming Gorge (release)
- An 11.5-inch white crappie caught by Tim Duke on the Sevier River (release)
- A 32-pound, 51-inch tiger muskellunge caught by Jacob Hansen at Fish Lake (spearfish)
