Catch & release application
Fishing Fishing
Angler holding fish

Official catch and release record fish application

Record fish program official catch and release application procedures

1 — Applications for catch and release 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.

Angler holding fish

3 — Fish must be caught by legal angling methods and released in good condition in the water from which it was caught. (See the Utah Fishing Guidebook.)

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 — Record fish will be determined by total length measured to the nearest 1/8 inch. To be certified, the fish must exceed the previously recognized record.

6 — The measurement and release of the fish must be witnessed and certified in writing.

7 — 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 is weighed/measured and certified in Utah in accordance with these rules and procedures. The only exceptions to this are (1) Page, Arizona, which will be accepted as an offcial weigh-in location, or (2) if the record submission from these interstate waters is verified by the corresponding state wildlife agency.

8 — 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.

9 — 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.

10 — 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.)

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