There’s been a seasonal fishing closure on a stretch of the Shoshone River near Yellowstone for the past 140 years. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is looking at loosening it.
The proposed changes would allow anglers to fish the lower part of the North Fork of the Shoshone River for two weeks in early April. The current closure from Newton Creek downstream to Gibbs Bridge is from April 1 to June 30.
Sam Hochhalter is the regional fishing supervisor out of the Cody office. He said WGFD has been studying trout distribution and angler harvest patterns.
“ The trout have, to date and for many, many decades, performed remarkably well in the North Fork and Buffalo Bill (Reservoir). Of course, we do see the ebbs and flows, which are natural in any fish or wildlife population. But by and large, it's a remarkable fish resource,” he said.
WGFD is also proposing changes to the amount of fish that can be caught in this stretch of the Shoshone River and in the nearby Buffalo Bill Reservoir. The maximum amount of trout caught per day would be doubled from three to six, but no more than two could be rainbow, rainbow/cutthroat hybrid or cutthroat trout.
“We'll of course keep close tabs on the fish population over the subsequent years if this proposal does get adopted by our commission,” Hochhalter said.
The public can attend meetings to learn more and comment on the regulation changes in April. If the commission were to make the changes, they’d go into effect next year.