Official catch and keep record fish application

Record fish program official catch and keep application procedures

1 — Applications for catch and keep record certification must be completed and submitted to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources using the form below. Applications must be submitted within 90 days of the catch to be considered.

2 — At least one color photograph of the fish (side view) must be submitted with each application. Submitted photographs of the fish must include at least one image of the fish next to a measuring device (e.g., yardstick, ruler or tape measure) to clearly show the length of the fish. Please submit additional photographs of yourself and the fish for news and publicity purposes by the Division. All photographs will become the property of the state and will not be returned.

3 — Fish must be caught by legal angling methods. (See the Utah Fishing Guidebook.) The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will maintain separate catch and keep records for angling, setline fishing and spearfishing.

4 — Fish must be caught from state waters open to public fishing. Fish caught from fee fishing facilities, privately owned ponds or fish hatcheries are ineligible.

5 — The fish record will be determined by weight to the nearest one ounce. To be certified, the fish must exceed the previously recognized record. Total length and girth will be used to validate the weight. Total length must be measured to the nearest 1/8 inch.

6 — Fish must be weighed on a certified commercial scale that is legal for trade/commerce, located at a fixed location (stationary), independently owned, and which carries a current certification sticker affixed by the Utah Department of Agriculture Food and Weights Division (most grocery store and post office scales are certified and inspected). A weighing receipt must be attached to the record fish application. The weighing must be witnessed and certified in writing by two independent witnesses who are not members of the individual's fishing party or family.

7 — A Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employee must witness and certify in writing the species, total fish length and girth verification.

8 — Fish taken from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Lake Powell, and Bear Lake will be recognized if taken legally from any portion of these waters; provided that the fish must be weighed/measured and certified in Utah in accordance with these rules and procedures. The only exception to this is Page, Arizona, which will be accepted as an official weigh-in location.

9 — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources reserves the right to further check identification or verification of witnesses and/or documentation of catch, and to reject any applications which are questionable.

10 — Record submissions will only be considered for the following species: Bonneville whitefish, mountain whitefish, non-native cutthroat trout, Bear River cutthroat trout, Bonneville cutthroat trout, Colorado River cutthroat trout, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, golden trout, lake trout, brook trout, Arctic grayling, kokanee salmon, brown trout, tiger trout, splake, walleye, yellow perch, Sacramento perch, striped bass, white bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, bullhead, channel catfish, black crappie, green sunfish, bluegill, northern pike, wiper, tiger muskellunge and common carp.

11 — For the four subspecies of cutthroat trout (Bonneville, Bear River, Yellowstone and Colorado River), record submissions will only be accepted for fish caught within their native ranges. (For more information about these subspecies' native ranges, see utahcutthroatslam.org.)