Flaming Gorge spring netting survey - It's a wrap

The annual spring netting survey conducted by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources at Flaming Gorge is done. Always cool to see these fish come in from the nets and then watch them swim away. The video was shot during the netting in 2011. Here's the report from Thursday's action.

Thanks for Flaming Gorge Project Leader Ryan Mosley for sending all the reports and the great pictures.

We concluded our spring netting on Flaming Gorge today with some big catches. We shattered our previous "big fish" of the sampling season, not once but twice, with a 26.6 and 30.4 lb lake trout. We also doubled our lake trout catch from yesterday, with a total of 14 fish. Lake trout were netted from 55-71 ft and diet contents were predominantly kokanee salmon and crayfish.Shore sets were similar to yesterday with abundant rainbow trout and smallmouth bass. We sampled rainbow trout up to 20-inches and several smallmouth bass up to a pound. A surprising catch from the shore sets was a 12 lb lake trout that came from only 30 ft of water. It was obviously close to shore for a reason, as we removed a 10-inch rainbow trout from it's stomach.Based on our netting these last several days, the fish look great in the Gorge this spring and anglers should have exceptional fishing opportunities this upcoming season. There are lots of options out there to choose from, lake trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass or even kokanee salmon. Pick a fish, any fish. Good luck and hope to see you on the water! Ryan Pictures

A tub of fish including rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, lake trout, and white suckers.Ryan Mosley with a 30 lb lake trout, photo by Matt McKell.Ian Kennedy with a 26 lb lake trout, photo by Matt McKell.