Facebook Post Stirs Conversation About Wyoming’s Salmon Scene

It's true. Wyoming is home to some great Kokanee salmon fishing.

A recent Facebook post from the I Grew up in Wyoming! group had people scratching their heads. The original post garnered thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, most of which questioned the legitimacy of the photo's description.

I tried to find the post about 24 hours later, but was unsuccessful. It's since been re-shared as pictured below, but with less oohs and ahhs this time around.

A few things don't add up. First, kokanee salmon are usually silver, except when they turn bright red before traveling upstream to spawn in September and early October. Not "yesterday." In this case May 27th.

K2 radio called Cowboy Drifters to see if there was any truth to the post, but learned that they don't even float reservoirs, nor have they sent out any guides named John recently.

After digging a little deeper I find the original photos, presumably stolen from a County 10 article. The post in question is, in fact, a kokanee from Wyoming, but caught on the Miracle Mile.

Wyoming does have Kokanee Salmon, though!

Kokanee salmon were first introduced to Flaming Gorge Reservoir in 1963. A supplemental stocking program was started in 1991; and in 2015, Wyoming Game and Fish started their first broodstock program.

The broodstock program has drawn a lot national interest as kokanee game fishing increases in popularity year after year.

The Kokanee salmon in the video below are spawning in the Green River.