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Show Ice Going Off: Trophy Fishery Warm winds, melting the ice on Flaming Gorge Reservoir, are uncovering one of the best trophy trout fisheries in the West, according to Utah Divi-- Divi-- sion of Wildlife officials. TRADITIONALLY, as soon as the ice is off the Gorge, large brown, rainbow and lake trout are caught. Last year on April 7, a 26-pound 2-ounce, 38-inch rainbow trout was caught, breaking a Utah state record held for 32 years. The record rainbow was one of the kam-loops kam-loops strain planted in the reservoir re-servoir between 1969 and 1971. In 1977, Flaming Gorge also produced the state record brown trout weighing 33 pounds and 10 ounces. Most fishermen will never hook one of these record-breaking trout, but many large trout are caught each spring. Flaming Gorge is stocked each year by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Wyoming Wyom-ing Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ser-vice. In 1979, these agencies stocked nearly 3.5 million 5-inch 5-inch trout in the Gorge. Some of these fish are lost through natural mortality, but many will be 10-14 inch catchable trout this year. Catchable trout are easier for the average fisherman to catch, but there is always a chance a new state record will be on the line. Flaming Gorge is open to angling year-round, 24 hours a day. |