North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine February 2016 | Page 42

A trophy fish management
plan is established and
anglers could keep three
cutthroat trout over 13
inches, and no bait fishing
is allowed above prospector
creek.

Fish from the St. Joe River
hatchery are released.

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1971

➢

1970

➢

1968

Red Ives up the St. Joe River
is closed to fishing for a
year, and then reopens. As
554 fish sampled average soon as it reopens, cutthroat
a length of 6.5 inches and abundance drops 59% and
large numbers of fish in the cuttys longer than 8" virtually
disappear.
3.5 range.

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➢

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1966

A hatchery is placed on the
St. Joe River. The program
was carried on for a few
years with no measurable
results and high operating
costs. MacPahee observes
that cutthroat trout were
nearly twice as vulnerable
to angling as Brooke trout.

1969

A creel sample shows that in
598 fish 6.9 inches was the
model length.

1971

Rankel concludes that
cutthroat populations have
declined due to over fishing
of this extremely vulnerable
resource. He also states
that westslope cutthroat
populations have collapsed
and are at great risk in the
future economically and
most likely biologically.