Wyoming Game and Fish to Kill Brook Trout in Bighorn Stream

South Paint Rock Creek will be closed from July 29 through August 2 as the department removes brown trout from the creek on the western slope of the Bighorns and replaces them with Yellowstone trout.

The project, being carried out in partnership with the Bighorn National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management, will treat a six-mile stretch of the creek with rotenone.

The treatment must be completed by August 2nd at the latest.

According to a press release from Game and Fish, South Paint Rock Creek, on the western slope of the Bighorns, is one of the few remaining Yellowstone trout populations in the Bighorn Mountains.

“Currently, Yellowstone cutthroat trout occupy 21 miles of habitat protected by a downstream natural barrier,” said Joe Skorupski, a Cody area fisheries biologist. “The treated portion of the creek will extend the core population of the protected area by 6 miles.”

The treatment process involved setting up rotenone drip stations to treat the water for six hours. A deactivation chemical will be distributed upstream of the Paint Rock Creek confluence while the project is underway.

“As an added safety precaution, we do not want fishermen fishing in the area during the week of the treatment,” Skorupski said.