I believe I am correct in this: The Henry's Fork of the Snake (especially The Ranch) is an internationally recognized blue ribbon fishery which touts large, wild Rainbow Trout. As I recall, there is a plaque at the head of The Ranch section of the river which tells that the "original" fish was the Cutthroat. I will try to verify my memory on this........perhaps someone else who fishes The Fork can clarify. Anyway, I think it is so interesting that an internationally recognized fly fishing section of this incredible river is known for a non-original specie of trout..............
Just found this from Idaho Fish and Game:
"The Henrys Fork Snake River GMU supports only a small fraction of the YCT it did priorto the 1900s. The YCT population was prolific enough to support numerous commercial fishingoperations in the late 1800s (including Henrys Lake). The exploitation of these fish may havecontributed to their decline; however, it is more likely that concurrent aggressive stockingprograms utilizing rainbow trout and brook trout had more to do with the loss of YCT throughoutthe drainage (Van Kirk and Gamblin 2000). In 1958 and again in 1966, piscicides were used totreat the Henrys Fork above the Island Park Dam to remove nongame fish. In 1958, the riverwas chemically treated upriver to Mesa Falls while in 1966 it was treated to Ashton. The YCTpopulations were largely eliminated by these treatments downstream to Mesa Falls. Followingthe chemical treatments, rainbow trout were restocked in the drainage. In addition to the effectsof exploitation, exotic fish stocking, and chemical treatments, habitat degradation andfragmentation likely played a role in the loss of cutthroat trout populations. "
As I understand it, they are trying to re-populate the upper stretches of the Henry's Fork.................Tributaries to Island Park Reservoir as I understand.
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