I promise, we have not forgotten about Trout Slam certificates. Quite a few entries came in this fall; time to get a batch of certificates sent out and time to give you an update!
There will be sixteen certificates sent out to fifteen different anglers. Ten anglers completed their first Trout Slam. Of the other six, three completed their second Trout Slam and three completed their third Trout Slam. One, Eric Einspahr from Lincoln, finished his second Trout Slam and then just to show off turned around and finished his third in a day! Nicely done, Eric!
All of the anglers will be added to the list of Trout Slam Finishers. Let me mention the ones here that just completed multiple Trout Slams: Matthew Hunefeld and Chris Meston finished their second slams, while Ken Buchholz and Matt Avey completed their third. As I mentioned Eric Einspahr finished his second and third.
When we started the Trout Slam challenge in 2018, Justin Powell was the first to finish a slam immediately after the program started. Justin decided to pick up his fly rod and finish another Trout Slam this fall. Justin’s photos are excellent, I have to share them:
Yes, I am jealous of the anglers who have been able to finish multiple slams already! However, my son and I were finally able to complete our first Trout Slams this fall. I will save some thoughts on that for a later blog post.
Those of you still working on your Trout Slam(s), I know you are all wondering, where? Let me give you a quick summary of the entries received this fall: Seven brown trout were caught from the East Branch of Verdigre Creek, three from the White River, two from Long Pine Creek, and one each from Ninemile, Chadron, Sowbelly and the middle fork of Soldier Creek.
Of the sixteen brook trout entries this fall, five were from the Cherry Creek Diversion Pond. Two each were listed as Monroe, Soldier, and middle fork of Soldier Creek. Another two brookies were caught from the Wood Reserve ponds. One each were recorded from Chadron, Big Bordeaux creeks and the White River.
Three of the rainbow trout entries were caught from the east branch of Verdigre Creek. As you can imagine, the other thirteen rainbow trout entries were caught from thirteen different waterbodies.
Lastly, seven of the cutthroat entries were caught from the Wood Reservoir ponds. Three from the White River, two each from the Alliance Golf Course Pond and Grove Wildlife Area pond. One more cutthroat was caught from Carter P. Johnson and one from Soldier Creek.
Taking a broader look, since we started the Trout Slam program in 2018 we have had 232 individual anglers enter 772 fish, 115 Trout Slams have been completed. I believe I have kept up with the spreadsheet entries and completed slams, but there are a lot of entries. If you believe we have overlooked someone who completed a Trout Slam, please let me know!
Out of the 772 fish entered, 82% were released! There is no doubt in my mind that there are some fish in some waterbodies that have been caught and released multiple times. There are fish that very likely have helped more than one angler complete their slam!
Yes, you are going to have to travel the state to complete your Trout Slam. We knew that would be the case when we started the program. By the way, that is exactly the point–we have some unique fishing opportunities in some of the prettiest places in the state. If you have not explored them, you need to! What better excuse than to work on your Trout Slam!
“Congratulations” to those who completed a Trout Slam this fall! To those of you still working on it, the only thing I know for sure is you cannot catch anything sitting at home on the couch!
The post Trout Slam Update, Fall 2021 appeared first on Nebraskaland Magazine.
