By Daryl Bauer
Have not given an update on Trout Slam recipients since this spring. Admittedly, a big reason I have not done that is because there were very few entries most of this year. Then we stocked cutthroat trout again this fall, and the entries started pouring in!
Entries have slowed down again now, so let me summarize what we have had come in. . . .
Trout Slam certificates and pins will be in the mail for 28 Trout Slams that were completed. Those certificates will be going to twenty-four different anglers; three of them completed multiple slams this fall. I am not going to list all 24 anglers here; you can see that list on our Trout Slam page.
However, I am going to tell you that several anglers have completed the slam multiple times. This fall Chris Meston from Bellevue completed his seventh slam! Justin Powell from Scottsbluff has done it five times; Matt Avey and Eric Einspahr of Lincoln, four times. John Schramm from Omaha, Grant Johnson of Grand Island, and Jay Langdon of Lincoln have completed the Trout Slam three times. Mark Chitwood from Elkhorn, Jacob Nielsen from Washington state, and Craig Cleveland from Gurley have completed two slams each.
Yes, I mostly mention those who have completed multiple slams because I am jealous.
In this batch of recipients we had the one angler from the state of Washington and two from Colorado! The rest were all Nebraskans.
Now I know those of you who have been working on your Trout Slam are have the same question. “Where did they catch ’em?”
Let me give you a breakdown of these most recent entries:
The top five waters for rainbow trout were the East Branch of Verdigre Creek, Ft. Robinson Grabel ponds, Ninemile Creek, Wood Reserve ponds, and the Cherry Creek Diversion Pond.
The top five waters for brown trout were Soldier Creek, Sowbelly Creek, White River, Hat Creek and the East Branch of Verdigre Creek.
Top waters for brookies were Monroe Creek, Wood Reserve ponds, Soldier Creek, Cherry Creek Diversion Pond and Squaw Creek.
Lastly, for cutthroats, the top waters were Sowbelly Creek, Wood Reserve ponds, the pond on Grove Lake Wildlife Area, Ft. Robinson Grabel ponds, and the Chadron State Park Pond.
Once again, the vast majority of the fish entered were released! They very well may still be there for you to catch!
Check out the Trout Slam page if you need more information on the slam or how you can participate. Spend some time looking around there and you will find all the information you need to complete your Trout Slam. Then all you will need is time on the water!
Every time I do a Trout Slam update I like to highlight some photos. Each entry includes a photo of the fish. All trout are darned purdy and some of the photos we get are spectacular. Actually, this probably is not fair because I haver shared Justin Powell’s photos several times. I am going to again because he submitted some beautiful shots:
Thanks again, Justin!
So, there ya go. If you are still working on your Trout Slam, don’t give up! As a matter of fact, many of our cold-water streams that hold these fish have at least some open water all winter long. Trout are cold-water fish and still very catchable during the winter as well. All you gotta do is GO FISH!