Bighorn River anglers mostly catch and release

Last month, Wyoming Game and Fish Department game wardens and fisheries personnel gathered on the Bighorn River near Thermopolis to check fishermen and enforce fishing laws. 

“With the fish population in the Bighorn at an all-time high and an increase in anglers and boaters on the river, we wanted to see what compliance was like with fishing and boating laws,” said Scott Werbelow, Cody region game warden  coordinator. “For the most part, compliance was good and Bighorn River anglers are abiding by the rules.”

 Werbelow said that wardens and biologists set up on the banks of Bighorn River at  strategic locations on private property to check fishermen operating drift boats. Nearly all fishermen were contacted from the Wedding of the Waters north to the north end of Thermopolis.

“Over two days, we inspected 37 boats containing 85 fishermen and seven shore fishermen.  Ninety percent of fishermen checked were nonresident fly fishermen using a guide. Most fishermen were catch and release fly fishermen with only a few people checked using lures.  Those utilizing lures were not nearly as successful as the fly fishermen,” Werbelow said.  “A total of 252 fish were caught and released with only one fish being kept due to being hooked too deep to release.”

“Although all fisherman checked had a fishing license, five citations and four warning citations were issued.  These citations were for failure to produce life jackets, failure to purchase conservation stamp, failure to purchase AIS sticker, and failure to get boat inspected prior to launching,” Werbelow said.    

Overall, compliance with fishing and boating laws was pretty good for the number of fishermen checked.” Werbelow said. “So far, all data collected from trout surveys indicate that trout populations in the Bighorn River continue to increase even though angler pressure has noticeably increased.”           

“For the most part, I think the public was glad to see us out there enforcing the regulations to protect this great fishery,” Werbelow said.