No-kill’s the rule for cutthroats

A landmark change in trout fishing regulations has been enacted, effective April 1, for North Idaho’s most popular streams. The key provisions:

“Cutthroat trout must be released if caught anywhere in the Spokane River drainage – including all of the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers.

“The catch-and-release season for cutthroats on these streams runs year-round – no more April-May closures.

The new rules are not clearly spelled out in the 2008-2009 Idaho fishing regulations pamphlet, concedes Joe DuPont, Idaho Fish and Game Department fisheries biologist.

“You have to look in more than one place to figure it out,” he said. “We’ll try to learn from our mistakes for the next pamphlet.”

Meantime, he offered these clarifications:

“The Panhandle’s “Winter Stream Season” (Dec. 1 to Saturday of Memorial Day weekend) has not changed. Both cutthroat and rainbows still must be released during this season, but harvest is allowed on whitefish and brook trout.

“Bait and hook rules have not changed. Even though cutthroats must be released throughout the Spokane River drainage, bait and barbed hooks are still allowed on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene downstream from Yellowdog Creek, on the Little North Fork Coeur d’Alene downstream from Laverne Creek, and on the St. Joe River downstream from the North Fork near Avery. Barbless hook and no-bait rules apply upstream from those points.

Bait and barbed hooks normally aren’t allowed in catch-and-release trout waters, but IFG officials said they didn’t want to stir up resentment to the new rules protecting cutthroats.

Going into this year’s spring runoff, the native cutthroat populations are as good as they’ve been in decades, attracting anglers from far and wide, biologists say.

But fisheries research indicates that a very high percentage of the native cutthroat longer than 12 inches have been removed from the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers each year under rules that allowed cutthroat harvest in the lower reaches of the streams.

“We think the average size of the cutthroats will improve significantly,” DuPont said.

To help make sure all anglers are aware of the new catch-and-release cutthroat rules, large signs are being installed along the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe Rivers. The North Idaho Fly Casters, Spokane Fly Fishers and Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club each donated $1,000 to help make the signs.