GREEN RIVER–The Seedskadee Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) is looking for fish that were implanted with radio tags in the Green River and Flaming Gorge Reservoir, as part of the Green River Adopt-A-Trout program.

The goal of this program was to determine how brown trout and burbot use the Green River and to bring fish biology and ecology into our local classrooms. In the spring of 2015, a total of 20 brown trout and 18 burbot were surgically implanted with radio tags and released to the Green River between Fontenelle and Flaming Gorge reservoirs. An additional 14 burbot were tagged in the Green River arm of Flaming Gorge Reservoir during fall of 2015.

“Over the course of the school year, local kids adopted the fish and followed their movements,” said TU’s Nick Walrath. “The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, local kids in Green River, and TU have learned a lot from these tagged fish over the past year. Unfortunately, the project was forced to end prematurely when all the tags that were used to track fish in the river stopped working six to eight months earlier than expected. We also suspect that eight of the 14 burbot tags in the Green River arm of Flaming Gorge Reservoir will meet the same fate in the next month.”

“The manufacturer requested that we send one of the tags back to them to run diagnostics on,” Walrath said. “As you might imagine, finding a handful of fish in 80 miles of river would be difficult. This is where you come in and can help our local fishery.”

“If you catch a brown trout or burbot with an antenna hanging out of it please retrieve the tag and call the phone number on the tag or turn it into the Game and Fish at their regional office on Astle Avenue. The antennas are 12- 14” long and 1/32” in diameter, they are attached to a radio tag 2” long and 5/8” in diameter.Once a tag has been retrieved we will send out another release so additional fish are not unnecessarily harmed. Remember all burbot caught in the Green River basin must be killed immediately.”