Idaho’s new catch-and-release records have been popular since the program launched on Jan. 1. with more than 55 entries so far. There are still opportunities to set a record no one can ever beat, and that’s getting a “first” into the record book.
Catch-and-release records are still open for these species:
- Tiger muskellunge
- Lahontan cutthroat
- Bullhead
- Tiger trout (brown/brook hybrid)
- Golden trout
- Lake whitefish
- Flathead catfish
- Gerrard Rainbow (Pend Oreille)
- S plake (brook/lake trout hybrid)
Here’s the list of current catch and release records.
To enter a fish into the state catch-and-release records, anglers can complete the record fish application form. The form can also be printed and mailed to the department, or taken to a regional office.
Here are guidelines for submitting a catch-and-release record:
• Fish must be released alive. They are judged by the total length from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail, with lobes of tail squeezed together. Sturgeon should be measured upside down along the belly from the snout to tip of the upper lobe of the tail fin.
• To break a catch-and-release record, a fish must be at least one-half inch longer than the existing record, except for white sturgeon, which must at least 2-inches longer.
• Anglers must submit at least one photo of the fish directly next to a ruler/tape or an object of known verifiable length. Photos cannot exceed 10 megabytes in size if they're to be emailed to Fish and Game.
• Entries must include at least one photo of the angler with the fish. To reduce handling stress, salmon, steelhead and white sturgeon must be measured and photographed in the water.
• Entries must include at least one witness to the measurement and release.
• All applications must be submitted within 30 days of the catch date.