Anglers Asked to Help with Smallmouth Bass Project

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Fisheries biologist in Wyoming and Utah are asking anglers to help monitor the smallmouth bass population in the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

Volunteers and biologists recently tagged 359 smallmouth bass in the Jarvis Canyon area of the reservoir. The fish were transplanted to supplement bass numbers on the northern end of Flaming Gorge.

Anglers who catch a fish with a tag, which is below the dorsal fin, should record where it was caught, the tag number and the length of the fish. Biologists ask all of this be done without killing the fish.

Utah has a robust population of smallmouth bass, and Wyoming's populations have been declining for five or six years due to burbot predation. The tags will be used to evaluate whether the bass stay in Wyoming or return to Utah.