Here’s a look at the largest rainbow trout we’ve stocked into the Green River. These fish — a Fish Lake Desmet strain — just arrived to their new home from our Springville hatchery. The fish average 12 inches long, but some are 15 inches, which is usually the size they achieve a year or two after stocking! About 8,000 fish went in it at Spillway, just below the dam, and 4,500 fish went in at Little Hole. | Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Each spring, we divert cutthroat trout to a fish trap on Swan Creek, a tributary to Bear Lake. Once inside the facility, we net the fish and put them in a solution that relaxes them. Next, they’re measured, tagged and weighed. Then, it’s time to extract their eggs and milt. We take the mixture to our hatcheries. There, the eggs hatch, and tiny cutthroat trout grow to 7 inches before they’re stocked in Bear Lake the following spring. This video shows the process. At the end, we open the gates, an