Green River Fisheries Supervisor Ron Remmick says the bass showed up during routine sampling by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department s Reservoir Fish Population Crew. Someone or some persons took it upon themselves to illegally stock smallmouth bass in the reservoir, Remmick said.
Illegal stocking is costly to anglers and the fisheries resource.
This practice upsets the balance of the reservoir. We are very concerned about the impacts to Bonneville cutthroat trout which is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a species in need of being listed as a threatened species. Remmick added that smallmouth bass not only negatively impact the fishery of the 630-acre reservoir, but the bass could enter the Bear River and Bear Lake in Idaho and Utah and potentially impact the native species throughout the watershed. Remmick said if a particular fish species does not inhabit an angler s favorite fishing hole it is for a good reason. We carefully survey the waters in Wyoming and a great deal of thought goes into the department s fish stocking strategy, including the potential to spread disease from one water to another, he said.