No Limits On Fish Gobbling Up Prized Flaming Gorge Kokanee Salmon

A complete free-for-all is being declared on smaller lake trout and burbot in Flaming Gorge reservoir, exciting fishermen and at least one marina owner who have watched populations of the reservoir’s prized fish decline. 

“An infiltration of small lake trout” has been a chronic problem, because they keep eating Flaming Gorge’s prized kokanee salmon, Tony Valdez, owner of Buckboard Marina, told Cowboy State Daily. 

Burbot is an ugly, but tasty, freshwater cod species, that has also been hammering the kokanee and is considered an invasive species at Flaming Gorge, Valdez added. 

Glad To Have States Onboard

There’s been no limit on the number of burbot that anglers could pull from the reservoir for the past couple of years.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department on Oct. 1 also eliminated the limit on lake trout under 28 inches. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is set to follow suit starting Jan. 1.

Valdez said he’s been trying to raise the alarm for years about Flaming Gorge’s “collapsing” fishery, and he’s glad that the state agencies have started listening. 

“To have Game and Fish and Wildlife Resources onboard, that’s a big thing, a really big thing,” he said. 

Lake trout over 28 inches will still be considered trophy fish, and anglers may keep only one of them, according to the state agencies.

130,000 Mouths To Feed

The threat that lake trout, also called mackinaw, pose to kokanee boils down to sheer numbers, Valdez said. 

Game and Fish estimates there are about 130,000 smaller lake trout on the Wyoming side of Flaming Gorge, although Valdez thinks that number could be closer to 150,000. 

Kokanee are regularly stocked in the lake as 3-inch minnows, he said. And the lake trout love gobbling those minnows. 

“If you think about having 130,000 mouths to feed,” it’s no wonder that the kokanee don’t stand a chance of growing to adulthood, he said. 

To make matters worse, the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls the water levels, has in recent years lowered the water in the reservoir. 

That’s taken it below the ideal level for kokanee spawning. So even the salmon that survive being gobbled up by lake trout aren’t reproducing in sustainable numbers, Valdez said. 

“We’ve had zero repeat spawning of kokanee on the Wyoming side,” he said. “The fishery is not OK.”

High-Dollar Fish

Kokanee mean more than just bragging rights for some anglers, they’re a potential economic gold mine, Valdez said. 

Estimates from 2010, the latest available, indicate that kokanee were worth about $76 per fish, in revenue pulled in from anglers eager to catch them, he said. And that dollars-per-kokanee figure has no doubt gone up since 2010. 

Meanwhile, it costs about “2 cents per fish” to stock the reservoir with kokanee, Valdez said, which means they’re a tremendous return on the investment. 

Historically, Flaming Gorge has been one of the few places in the Lower 48 where anglers had a decent chance of catching salmon, he said. 

An opportunity to “go salmon fishing without having to go to Alaska” can be a huge draw for Wyoming residents and out-of-state anglers alike, he said.

Ice Fishing Contests Are On

Two fishing contests will take place in early 2025 aimed at pulling gobs of small lake trout and burbot out of Flaming Gorge. 

The Burbot Bash is scheduled for Jan. 24-26 and the Mac Attack ice fishing contest is set for Feb. 15-17. 

Valdez is most excited about the Mac Attack, which will target lake trout. 

Both fishing contests have been yearly events for quite some time. But with the limits lifted for smaller lake trout on both sides of the state line, he hopes that the 2025 Mac Attack will draw a ton of contestants.

Despite a warm December, the ice on Flaming Gorge is already looking good, and Valdez expects it to be in great shape for the fishing contests. 

As for advice on hooking as many lake trout as possible, he recommends adding chum, or cut bait, to draw them in droves. 

Chum is parts of junk fish, such as suckers, cut into pieces “about the size of your thumbnail” and tossed into ice fishing holes, he said.

It gives lake trout something to zero in on, he said. 

While the contests should provide great one-time hits on the lake trout and burbot, it will take a concerted effort over time to put lasting dents in their numbers, Valdez said. 

Good Eating 

Although the new regulations allow anglers to just throw lake trout away, Valdez said that would be a shame, because they are a prized “game fish” and are tasty. 

So, anglers should consider stocking up their freezers instead of letting their catches go to waste, he said. 

Game and Fish agrees that folks should keep lake trout for food.  

“While it is legal to dispose of unwanted lake trout, small lake trout make excellent table fare and are a good source of Omega 3,” the agency reports. “Even though anglers can legally dispose of the smaller lake trout, they are encouraged to properly care for their catch and share them with friends and family if they do not want to consume them.” 

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.