SAFFORD, Ariz. – Arizona’s recovering Gila trout population was given a terrific boost Nov. 2 when these rare native trout received a short helicopter ride into a remote creek on the steep side of the Pinaleño Mountains.
“With a load of fish, this was physically taxing, but well worth the
effort,” said Jason Kline, a Game and Fish Department biologist. “It’s
an historic occasion, as it will provide five miles of Gila trout
recovery stream and in future years will become the first fishable
population of Gila trout in Arizona.” This effort crossed two states and was a model of cooperative conservation among state and federal agencies and involved biologists from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service, with a helping hand from Trout Unlimited as well.
The fish were trucked in from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mora National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center in New Mexico to the department’s Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area near Pima, Arizona. On the morning of Nov. 4, they were transferred to transport drums, which were attached to a helicopter by long line slings, then flown to Frye Creek, which flows down the steep sides of this rugged mountain.
Three crews staged on the mountain to receive the fish, hike them up to three miles into Frye Canyon along a rebuilt trail, and stocked them into creek pools.
In addition, Kline noted that once the Gila trout population there stabilizes as early as three years from now, anglers will be able to fish for five species of trout on the same mountain, including the hybrid Apache, brown, rainbow and brook trout.
Five miles of Frye Creek from its headwaters to the Frye Mesa Reservoir
has been closed to fishing since mid-October, and will remain so until
the Gila trout population there is thriving. Thereafter, “limited
opportunity” fishing will be initially allowed. Fishing at the
reservoir (well down the mountain from the Gila trout stocking area) is
still permitted.“This will create a very unique fishing experience,” noted Acting Regional Supervisor Don Mitchell of the Game and Fish Department office in Tucson. “Apache trout inhabit streams atop Mt. Graham already, creating the distinct possibility of catching two native trout on the same mountain in the near future.”
This is the third effort to establish populations of Gila trout in Arizona. Gila trout were stocked into Dude Creek near Payson in 1999, and Raspberry Creek south of Alpine in 2000. The protected population in Raspberry Creek is thriving. Biologists have found no evidence that the Gila trout placed in Dude Creek have reproduced.
First described in 1950, Gila trout in Arizona were listed as an endangered species in 1967, and have been a threatened species since 2006.
There were also 150 Gila trout placed into Grapevine Creek in the Bradshaw Mountains near Prescott.