The Utah Cutthroat Slam invites anglers to hit the water and raise awareness for the native cutthroat trout species in Utah.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the nonprofit Trout Unlimited partnered up to create a conservation-focused fishing competition, which began in 2016.
Since then, the Utah Cutthroat Slam has challenged anglers to catch the state’s cutthroat trout in their native habitats.
Mike Slater, sportfish project leader at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said their goal is to increase awareness of these fish populations.
“We're trying to encourage people to understand and appreciate, first and foremost, the native trout of the state,” Slater said.
Cutthroat trout are the only native subspecies of trout located in Utah. Four subspecies can be found throughout the state, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Services website.
The four subspecies — the Bonneville, Bear River, Colorado River and Yellowstone — are the stars of the Cutthroat Slam.
Bonneville cutthroat
“The most famous (cutthroat) is going to be the Bonneville cutthroat,” Hayden Cook, assistant Slam director, said.
The state fish of Utah, the Bonneville cutthroat, was once believed to be extinct. The fish was rediscovered during the 1970s, Cook said.
“It's a fish that's just really resilient and has a cool story behind it,” Cook said.
Since the rediscovery, conservationists have worked to restore its native watersheds. Now the fish can be found in multiple areas throughout the state, he said.
Bear River cutthroat
While one might confuse the Bear River cutthroat with the Bonneville, the two are distinct subspecies, Cook said. The Bear River trout are native to Bear Lake and the Bear River drainage.
Colorado River cutthroat
Colorado River cutthroat are best known for their bright colors.
“Those are going to be the most colorful, most beautiful fish that you can find in the state,” Cook said. “They get really deep, beautiful red colors and have really cool color patterns.”
Yellowstone cutthroat
Many consider Yellowstone cutthroats the most difficult of the four subspecies due to their unique location.
“Those are famous for being the trickiest ones to catch for the slam because their native range within Utah is all the way up in the northwest corner of the state in a little area known as the Raft River Mountains,” Cook said.
He said, although the creeks with Yellowstone cutthroat are small and few, the fish are ready to bite. If anglers can get a fly on the water without spooking the fish, they have a good chance at catching the trout.
Anglers must catch each fish within its native region. Anglers can find these locations on the Division of Wildlife Resources’ website.
Slater said discovering these native habitats is at the heart of the slam. He encourages participants to research the areas they fish to see if they can take their catch home.
“Go to where these fish are supposed to be and where they've always been since the pioneers were here,” Slater said. “Go into those waters and see if you can catch, take a picture of that fish; put it back if you want, but follow the regulations of that water.”
Anglers who want to enter the slam can sign up on the Utah Cutthroat Slam website. Once they pay the $20 entry fee, all that’s left to do is to start fishing and take a picture of each catch.
$19 dollars from each registration goes directly towards helping cutthroat trout conservation efforts, Slater said.
“The Utah Cutthroat Slam has raised more than $100,000 for native trout conservation in Utah since its launch,” according to the 2025 Edition of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Fishing Guidebook.
That money has funded conservation research as well as community outreach efforts like informational signs and kiosks across the state, Cook said.
For anglers worried about finishing the slam quickly, Cook said there is no deadline.
“Once you register for it, the registration never expires. So whether you do it in a day or you do it over the course of multiple years, it never expires,” he said.
Anglers can also repeat the slam by registering again. Chapter President of the Weber Basin Anglers, Zigmund Peacock, has completed the slam more than four times and said he likes to mix up his fishing spots.
“I've tried not to fish the same location more than twice on my slams,” Peacock said.
Currently working on his fifth slam, Peacock hopes to catch the Colorado River trout in a new location.
In addition to the pride that comes from landing these native trout, Cook says anglers earn well-deserved recognition.
“If you catch four fish, then you get a medallion, a certificate and you get your aim and photos on the website,” Cook said. “It’s really cool.”
The medallion features an image of one of the trout. The slam cycles through the four subspecies over time. Anglers can currently earn the Bonneville Trout medallion which completes the slam's first full rotation.
The slam’s website features the names of more than 1,600 anglers who have completed the slam, many with accompanying pictures of their catches.
With so much engagement in the slam, Cook said more people than ever are learning about the native cutthroat that define Utah’s waters.
“The awareness about the unique variety of cutthroat subspecies has increased probably tenfold since the slam started,” Cook said. “That's just a really cool thing to see that people recognize and understand that we really do have special fish here in Utah.”
He hopes people will continue to get outside, find joy in fishing and support conservation for these unique Utah natives.
For more information, people can visit the Utah Cutthroat Slam website.