Bear Lakeâs sterile lake trout are headed to other Idaho lakes
Biologists looking to determine whether the lakeâs fertile non-native trout have been reproducing.
(Photo courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources) Utah DWR fisheries technician Emily Wright displays a massive lake trout caught and released in Bear Lake during a gillnetting survey in 2019.
| Updated: 2:19 p.m.
Lake trout have owned the top rungs of the Bear Lake food chain for decades, ever since the long-lived predatory species was introduced into the mountain lake straddling the Utah-Idaho state line.
These large trout became a favored sport fish for the anglers who flock to Bear Lake, but the species is hard on the lakeâs native fish, including four that live nowhere else. Since 2001, Utah fisheries managers have been stocking non-reproducing sterile lake trout in the hopes of keeping their numbers in check while maintaining the popular sport fishery.