Beginning September 1, 2021, the Brown Trout Incentivized Harvest Program will add an additional $300 incentive to encourage anglers to catch and keep brown trout in the Lees Ferry Reach below Glen Canyon Dam.
Currently the National Park Service (NPS) is making a $33 payment for each brown trout over six inches long that is harvested and turned in at the Navajo Bridge Visitor Center. For the months of August through October, an additional $50 is paid to each angler for every 3 brown trout harvested each month.
During September and October, anglers will receive an additional payment of $300 for each harvested brown trout containing a PIT tag. PIT tags are a small (7 mm) tag that researchers use to uniquely identify each fish and to estimate population size, etc. Pictures of pit tags are located on the brown trout signage at the Lees Ferry Boat Ramp.
Anglers are encouraged to help reduce the growing population of brown trout in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. Brown trout spawn during fall and winter months when they begin to move into shallow waters.
Although brown trout can be found throughout the river below the dam, most have been harvested from the dam down to approximately 4-miles upstream from the Lees Ferry boat ramp.
The brown trout population between the dam and Lees Ferry has steadily increased since 2014. As adults, brown trout feed on other fish, threatening downstream native and endangered fish species. The goal of this program is to determine if the Incentivized Harvest by anglers can help manage and reduce the number of brown trout. This management option was highly favored during public review of potential management tools when compared with intensive mechanical removal efforts or disturbance activities during the spawning period.