WGFD sees record Cutt-Slam achievements in 2019

From the Wyoming Game and Fish Department

It was a record year for one of the most sought-after achievements for anglers in Wyoming.

A total of 144 anglers completed the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Cutt-Slam in 2019. Established in 1996, the Cutt-Slam challenges anglers to catch the state’s four subspecies of cutthroat trout — Bonneville, Colorado River, Snake River and Yellowstone — in their respective native ranges.

That number broke the previous record of 142 set in 2013.

This year marked the seventh that more than 100 anglers earned the recognition.

“As the popularity of the program grows, so does the attention to the department’s management efforts for cutthroat trout restoration,” Alan Osterland, Game and Fish chief of fisheries, said.

Those who complete the slam receive a personalized certificate featuring the four cutthroat subspecies, a Wyoming Cutt-Slam commemorative medallion provided by Wyoming Trout

Unlimited and a Cutt-Slam vehicle decal. For consideration of the prize, anglers must submit to Game and Fish a photo of each species labeled with the date and location they were caught.

Submissions can be sent with a mail-in application or online. Fish can be caught and applications may be sent at any time.

The Wyoming-Cutt Slam was the idea of the late Ron Remmick, who was the Game and Fish fisheries supervisor in the Green River and Pinedale regions. Remmick wanted to draw attention to the management efforts being done with Wyoming’s cutthroat species and find a way to profile them. The medallion became part of the prize package in 2018 in honor of Remmick.

Game and Fish has recognized 1,719 anglers since the challenge began. People are represented from two other countries (Canada and Czechoslovakia) and all but three states — Hawaii, Kentucky and Rhode Island.