Nebraskaland Magazine
I mentioned in the latest Trout Slam Update that my son and I had finally completed our Trout Slams. It took us far too long to finally get back to the northwest corner of our great state where we could check off brook and cutthroat trout. Simply put, a person has to visit that corner of Nebraska to complete a Trout Slam. What a great excuse to go there!
Let me go back and rehearse my Trout Slam and make some comments along the way. . . .
My family has traveled to Ft. Robinson in northwest Nebraska for numerous vacations. It is one of our favorite places in the state. If you look back through one of my albums of Nebraska fish, you will find some pages labeled “Ft. Rob Trout Slam”.
We have always loved the fishing opportunities around Ft. Robinson, especially the trout. Often we would try to explore different waters and catch rainbow, brook and brown trout while we were there. Cutthroats eventually entered the scene too.
I tell that story not to take credit for the “Trout Slam” idea. Believe me, there were a number of other anglers who would do the same thing when they were visiting Ft. Robinson. However, that kind of pursuit was the genesis for the Trout Slam, no doubt about that.
Officially, the Nebraska Trout Slam started in 2018. We had to start at a certain time, and we determined that to qualify for the Trout Slam all entries would have to be caught after Jan. 1, 2018. Prior to Jan. 1, 2018, I had caught cutthroat, brook, rainbow and brown trout from Nebraska waters several times. In fact, dried off a cutthroat just the previous fall.
Not long before that, I had been “out west” and dried off some brookies:
But those were “too early”, did not count.
So, I had to go back to fishing. . . .
Got started on my Trout Slam early, early in the spring of 2018, in fact fished open water one day, was back on the ice the next. Found a brown trout on Long Pine Creek:
Then, I did not enter any fish for my Trout Slam for a long time. It was not that I was not catching any trout. I just did not have any that I wanted to enter.
Finally, caught a rainbow that was worthy:
Then it was down to the brookie and cutthroat.
I tried hard for the cutthroat. Fished the water where I most recently had caught a cuttie a couple of trips; nothing but rainbows.
So, that brought me and my son finally back to Ft. Robinson this past fall. Caught my official brook trout entry one evening:
Finally, another cutthroat a couple of days later:
So, those are my official entries for my first Trout Slam. I can finally say I have earned the hat pin:
However, those are NOT the fish I am going to remember as my Trout Slam. I am going to remember fish caught before the Trout Slam was an official program. I am going to remember my BEST fish for each species caught over the years. Yes, all from Nebraska, these will be my unofficial Trout Slam:
Now, on to the next one!
