Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks have kindly funded the genetic analysis of 25 fin clips that I collected over 2007. The analysis was done at the University of Montana Conservation Genetics Laboratory in Missoula. The results indicate that there is very little evidence of westslope cutthroat trout/rainbow trout hybridization in the six lower blocks.
From this analysis, rainbow trout accounted for a genetic contribution of only 0.02%. This is a good thing from a conservation standpoint, but it does mean that there are still a few hybrids cruising around in the river. If you suspect that you have caught a hybrid (cutbow) and are within a designated legal harvest zone, I encourage you to remove from the population and take it home for dinner! Refer to the annual fishing synopsis for the Elk River harvest zonation and guidelines.
A big thanks goes out to Erin Sexton, Matt Boyer and Mark Deleray at MFWP, and Robb Leary and the folks at the Allendorf Lab at the University of Montana.
Chad
