Submitted by Brett.Prettyman on Wed, 2015-10-28 14:06 Conservation Yellowstone Fly Fishing High Desert Anglers - 620 Wyoming Flycasters - 605 Southern Nevada - 686 Weber Basin Anglers - 681 Stonefly Society - 048 Wyoming At-Large - 748 Seedskadee - 533 Utah At-Large - 753 Nevada - 9NV Wyoming - 9WY Greater Yellowstone Area The Front Porch Trout Magazine Utah - 9UT Wyoming Range Outdoor Communicators Vote Up Down +21 + DSCF0028.JPG Volunteers search irrigation canals feeding off of the Shoshone River near Cody for trout that could be stranded and die. Once captured, the fish are moved back to the main branches of the Shoshone River. By Brett Prettyman Anglers commonly brag about experiencing days where they catch 20 or 30 fish, but they have nothing on volunteers from the East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited out of Cody, Wyoming. For more than 20 years volunteers have been showing up each fall to rescue fish from likely death as irrigation canals from the Shoshone River system are shut off for the winter. “Some of these fish get swept onto croplands where they perish, but many simply live in the major ditches all summer. In the fall at the end of the agricultural season the head gates are closed and the water drains or seeps down until only a few pools remain until they freeze solid,” said Dave Sweet with the East Yellowstone Chapter of TU. “Of course, the drain-down and freeze-up are ultimately lethal to any that remain. These are fish that we are rescuing with the support and often the help of the irrigation districts.” DSC01339.JPG This 27-inch brown trout was trapped in an irrigation canal and likely would have perished had it not been caught and moved back to the Shoshone River. The effort started Oct. 21 this year and is expected to run for about two weeks. Roughly 10-15 volunteers show up each day to electroshock the canals, collect the fish and return them to the main river. Native cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, whitefish and even brook trout and lake trout are relocated. Fish range from fry of the year to fish like the 27-inch brown caught this week. DSCF0031.JPG The local community has joined forces with Trout Unlimited for the annual fish rescue efforts each fall. Sweet said high school students from the Future Farmers of America group in Cody have become partners is the fish rescue effort. The volunteers rescue somewhere between 4,000 and 7,000 fish each fall. Brett Prettyman is the Intermountain Communications Director for Trout Unlimited. He is based out of Salt Lake City.