01-11-2005, 01:37 AM
I think the F&G is doing a good thing by trying to reduce the number of rainbows in the South Fork so I have keep most of the ones that I have caught. But it still kind of bothers me every time a wack a rainbow/hybrid over the head. The rainbows are more fun after you hook them because they pull harder and will often get air born a couple times. In some ways the cutthroats are superior to rainbows but the main reason they want to protect them is because they are the native species. Most fly fisherman prefer cutthroats in the snake because they take dry flies better and really stack up on some of the rifles. If I had to choose between cutthroats or rainbows for the south fork I would pick cutthroats hands down.
I'll try my best to explain why the F&G want to get ride of the rainbows in the South Fork. Hybridization is the main reason rainbows are such a threat to cutthroats. Brown trout are also common in the South Fork but the F&G hasn't done much to reduce the number of browns because they don't cross bread with cutthroats. Enviromentalists and fly fishing orginizations are the main ones pushing the F&G to protect the cutthroats. The F&G has been more activily trying to help cutthroats so cutthroats in all of eastern Idaho so they don't end up on the endangered species list which would severly restrict what the F&G is able to do in any waters with Yellowstone cutthroats. The cutthroats in the South Fork are arguably there own species and not Yellowstone cutthroats at all which makes the argument to protect them even more valid. If you have caught the fine spotted cutthroat in the south Fork and comparted them to the cutthroats in Yellowstone Lake you would know why many fisherman consider them different species even though they are currently both classified as Yellowstone Cutthroat. The F&G nows that they will never irradicate the cutthroats in the South Fork they just want to make sure the cutthroats don't become extinct from the South Fork.
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I'll try my best to explain why the F&G want to get ride of the rainbows in the South Fork. Hybridization is the main reason rainbows are such a threat to cutthroats. Brown trout are also common in the South Fork but the F&G hasn't done much to reduce the number of browns because they don't cross bread with cutthroats. Enviromentalists and fly fishing orginizations are the main ones pushing the F&G to protect the cutthroats. The F&G has been more activily trying to help cutthroats so cutthroats in all of eastern Idaho so they don't end up on the endangered species list which would severly restrict what the F&G is able to do in any waters with Yellowstone cutthroats. The cutthroats in the South Fork are arguably there own species and not Yellowstone cutthroats at all which makes the argument to protect them even more valid. If you have caught the fine spotted cutthroat in the south Fork and comparted them to the cutthroats in Yellowstone Lake you would know why many fisherman consider them different species even though they are currently both classified as Yellowstone Cutthroat. The F&G nows that they will never irradicate the cutthroats in the South Fork they just want to make sure the cutthroats don't become extinct from the South Fork.
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