Trout Unlimited TroutBlitz

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Goals

What is TroutBlitz?

Most anglers are familiar with rainbow, brown, and brook trout, but how many have ever seen a Whitehorse cutthroat, Mexican golden trout, or Sacramento redband? When an angler has seen these unique fish, it is usually through a painting of a single-type specimen. But a single image can never capture the incredible diversity found even within a single subspecies.

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Eastern brook trout

That’s why we need citizen scientists--ecological anglers--to get involved in the TU TroutBlitz. TroutBlitz is a citizen-science project aimed at cataloging the rich diversity of North America’s native salmonids, including trout, steelhead, char, whitefish, grayling and salmon. Through photography and angling, TU’s membership can build a single, easily accessible, geo-referenced photo library of native salmonids across their geographic range. In addition to documenting native trout biodiversity, TU members can contribute to scientific understanding of the introduction and non-native species by providing geo-referenced photos of these fishes when afield. In order to make TroutBlitz successful, we need your help. With just a fly rod, camera and a GPS unit, you can make a valuable contribution to science.

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While all of the information you need to get started is included in this TroutBlitz Manual, here are a few things we'd recommend you have on hand so you can get started right away:

A good digital camera. High-quality photos are important for proper identification. Photos should include as much of the fish you've caught as possible and show as much detail as possible.
A GPS unit, if possible. Some newer-model digital cameras have a GPS connection, and they can label your photos with GPS coordinates if you choose.
Proper gear for your time afield. Remember, it always pays to be safe and have things on hand that you'll need, like ample water, bug spray, sunscreen and, if you're in bear country, a can of bear spray is never a bad idea.
A general background in identifying trout, salmon and char. For more details on this, use our manual.
Basic familiarity with the TroutBlitz project site on iNaturalist.org--it's easy to learn and easy to use.

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Bonneville cutthroat trout

Being a citizen scientist is easy and fun, and by helping us catalog where native--and non-native--trout swim in North America, you'll be helping us identify opportunities for native fish habitat restoration, potential native fish reintroduction and helping us prioritize the landscapes TU works to protect all across the continent.

Tactics

TU hopes to engage citizen scientists to help us identify and catalog trout, salmon and char populations all over North America. By using everyday anglers as our grassroots army, it's our hope that we'll be able to:

Identify robust populations of native trout within their native ranges
Identify where non-native trout have been planted in the native ranges of other trout
Encourage anglers to help demonstrate the ranges of both native and non-native trout
Encourage anglers to join Trout Unlimited and share their photos and information with the larger angling community
Identify intact landscapes that are vital to native trout survival and angling opportunity
Identify opportunities for restoration and reconnection work
Identify potential watersheds for native trout reintroduction

By using the iNaturalist platform, this effort is open to both TU members and non-members (but we'd love to have you join us!) who love to fish and who are willing to help us catalog native and non-native fish populations and locations around North America. In short, we're enlisting you to help us with some important data that will help us make fishing better for everyone for generations to come.