Arizona Game and Fish hikes 350 threatened Gila trout back into Grapevine Creek

Arizona's threatened Gila trout got another boost this fall. The Arizona Game and Fish Department said Oct. 21 that on Oct. 8, staff including Director Tom Finley and Deputy Director Joshua Hurst hiked buckets of 350 hatchery-raised Gila trout into a remote part of the Bradshaw Mountains and released them into Grapevine Creek. The stream has held a recovery population since 2009, but the 2017 Goodwin Fire badly cut its trout numbers.

Crews also stocked Chase Creek and Bonita Creek on the Mogollon Rim in October. The fish came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Mora National Fish Hatchery in New Mexico. Each trout was measured and given a microchip tag so biologists can follow its growth, survival and movement.

Gila trout live only in Arizona and New Mexico and are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, mainly because of hybridization, drought and wildfire. AZGFD points to Arizona's other native trout, the Apache trout, which came off the federal list in 2024 after similar stocking work.

For anglers, Dude and Grapevine creeks are open to seasonal catch-and-release fishing, and the department stocks Gila trout in other lakes and streams for recreation. Those waters are mapped on the Arizona Trout Challenge page and in the Fish & Boat AZ app, and AZGFD asks anglers to fill out a short survey after any trip targeting Gila or Apache trout.

Photo: Arizona Game and Fish Department.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Arizona Game and Fish Department — AZGFD staff return threatened Gila trout to streams (Oct. 21, 2026).