When you are ready to claim your certificate (plus hat or medallion), click here to access our online form.  If you want a hard copy of this form to track your progress or prefer to mail in your information and photos, click here.    Please note that is much easier and faster for us to review your form/photos if you submit through the online form.

All anglers need to purchase fishing licenses in each state in which you fish! Aside from that requirement, if you want to create your own personal challenge and catch all of these fish on your own, you may of course do so. But if you want to receive a Western Native Trout Challenge certificate, hat, or medallion you do need to pay the $25 registration fee if 18 or older (kids 17 and under play for free, but still need to be registered) to participate in our program.

$23 of every $25 registration fee goes toward on-the-ground conservation projects to support these native trout species.  In 2020, our first year Western Native Trout Challenge registration fees and donations supported an important project benefiting Westslope Cutthroat Trout in Montana called Cottonwood Creek Fish Passage Barrier Project for Native Trout Security.  The WNTI Steering Committee will be reviewing proposals in 2022 and selecting additional project(s) that will receive registration fees and donations.

No fish caught prior to the program launch month of May 2019 will be “grandfathered” into an application for a certificate. No fish caught in Montana prior to June 15, 2019 can be counted toward the Challenge, per the rules of our permit.

We ask anglers to register for the Challenge before they begin fishing because it helps us manage this program AND because we want anglers to read the information in the registration packet on how to prevent potential spread of aquatic invasive species before you start traveling from state to state.  However, fish caught after May 2019 (or June 15, 2019 in Montana) can be counted toward your certificate even if you were not previously registered.  We realize that there is travel involved for this program, and will not require an angler to re- visit a state where they caught a qualifying fish after May or June 2019 but were not aware of this program or that they needed to register before they fished.   We encourage everyone to register before beginning the Challenge.

Because the “prizes” for the Challenge (and postage to mail them out) are heavily subsidized, each registration entitles each registrant to one hat, two medallions, and three certificates.  Once you have received three prizes/certificates (limit one hat), you need to register again in order to receive an additional hat, medallions and certificates.

The 12 state fish and wildlife agencies that are participating in this program created detailed GIS based maps to assist you in locating these native trout species in their native or historic watersheds. We hope you use the maps to guide your research, but also hope you research the fishing in each local community. Talk to other anglers, talk to the local fish and wildlife agency office, talk to the staff in the nearby National Forest, talk to the local fly shop.  IMPORTANT NOTE: Read the instructions for what fish qualify for the Challenge on the Challenge fish map for each state!

(August 2023): The Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI), our 12 partner state fish and wildlife agencies, and the federal Bureau of Land Management are excited to announce that we have been working since February 2023 on an update and improvements to the Western Native Trout Challenge “Fishmaps” to make planning your adventures easier.  

The Fishmaps were initially developed in 2018/2019 when the Western Native Trout Challenge program was first launched.  The ESRI software that the original Fishmaps were built with has been updated and upgraded and after five years of use, it was time to update our Fishmaps.

We have switched the link in the Challenge website over to the new Fishmaps as of August 21, 2023.  We will leave the old Fishmaps “live” to the public through October 2023 for those who have it bookmarked, but it will not be updated with new information going forward.  We will remove public access to the original Fishmaps in November 2023.  Only the new Fishmaps will be hyperlinked through the website.  Video tutorial on how to use the new Fishmaps.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Read the instructions for what fish qualify for the Challenge on the Challenge fish map for each state!

(October 2023): The WNTI Challenge Downloadable Maps is an application we have developed so you can create your own “field maps” that will allow you to navigate outside of cell service. Users can create maps of specific areas from our Fishmaps of where they will be going, which is helpful for navigation and determining distances. This application can be used for any area, though only states with site-specific data are included on the map. We have created a video tutorial demonstrating how to use the application that you can view.

                Once you have created a PDF map in the application, it can be printed on paper, or used in a variety of apps that are navigational aids. We recommend using Avenza Maps, which is available for Android and iOS. Once the map is imported into Avenza, it will show your location on the map and also provide various useful tools, such as “pinning” a location or path tracking.

                IMPORTANT NOTE: WNTI does not have the staff capacity to provide one-on-one support, but you can watch our video tutorial demonstrating how to create a PDF map using the Downloadable Maps application. Information on how to use Avenza Maps can be found on their help website.

I know there are more native trout species in one of the states than they included in the Challenge fish maps. Why are some species not included in certain states even though they occur in that state? Each state fish and wildlife agency spent considerable time deciding which of the native trout and char species under its jurisdiction to include in this Challenge. In some cases, the maps were constructed to guide anglers away from sensitive conservation populations or from areas where habitat cannot sustain heavy angling pressure. In other cases, locations on the maps were included because they are locations where anglers have a really good chance of catching the species s/he seeks. In a couple of instances, species were not included at this time because of concern that anglers may confuse two species that look near-identical and are difficult to distinguish in a field setting, particularly where one of the species has very limited legal fishing opportunities or is a listed species. We anticipate adding additional species in states over the next few years as conservation efforts are implemented.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Read the instructions for what fish qualify for the Challenge on the map for each state carefully!

As of May 2019, there are not enough locations where Greenback Cutthroat Trout can be caught in its native or historic range to be included in this Challenge. With ongoing conservation projects being implemented, we expect this situation to change in the next few years and at that time, Greenbacks will be added to the Challenge.

As of May 2019, there are not enough locations where Paiute Cutthroat Trout can be caught in its native or historic range to be included in this Challenge. With ongoing conservation projects being implemented, we expect this situation to change in the next few years and at that time, Paiute Cutthroat Trout will be added to the Challenge.

Kokanee in Alaska are primarily a fly-in fishery and are excluded at this time due to concerns about cost of access.

The state of Montana has very specific regulations that govern fishing “contests”.  For now, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks have chosen to include only two of the state’s native trout species in this Challenge and, for now, they can only be caught in bodies of water indicated on the Challenge fish map.  We will update this information if it changes in the future.

Each person must catch his/her own fish to have it  be counted toward any Challenge achievement level.