Bruno, a huge male grizzly best-known as a frequent suitor of Wyoming’s beloved Grizzly 399, put on a rare show in Grand Teton National Park, as he went ice fishing for trout.
He lumbered out onto thin ice late last week at Oxbow Bend – a popular, highly-visible spot on the Snake River – and started pawing away at trout through the ice.
He managed to snag a few snacks, but also at one point fell through the ice.
Neil Simmons, who runs Roam Wild Photo Tours in Grand Teton, said he and some clients rounded a corner on the nearby road just in time to witness Bruno’s antics.
He told Cowboy State Daily that it was unusual to see a grizzly ice fishing.
“In 10 years of doing this, I’ve never seen that in the Tetons,” said Simmons, who captured a short video of the action.
Grizzlies Here Fish, But Only A Little
Wyoming Game and Fish large carnivore specialist Dan Thompson told Cowboy State Daily that Bruno’s ice fishing venture was rare behavior.
However, grizzlies are extremely intelligent and can get creative when it comes to finding a meal.
“Never underestimate the adaptability of a grizzly bear. I had not heard of grizzly bears ‘ice fishing’ but we know they have a huge dietary breadth including fish, and are always finding unique ways to dine,” Thompson said.
Retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody has spent countless hours observing grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and said their fishing options are limited.
There was a time when cutthroat trout were plentiful in the tributary creeks of Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, he said.
“The grizzlies would get into the creeks and push the fish against the banks with their feet” to trap and devour them, Neal said.
That’s far less dramatic than grizzlies catching salmon in mid-air as the fish leap out of the water during their spawning runs on big rivers up north.
Such action draws crowds of admirers — both in person, or watching livestream videos — during Alaska’s Fat Bear Week.
That event calls on fans around the world to vote for their favorite rotund bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve, at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula. The bears there spend most of the late summer and early fall salmon run sitting in the river, gorging themselves fish.
Wyoming doesn’t have the big rivers or huge salmon to give bears here that sort of buffet, Neal said.
And in recent decades, an overpopulation of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake devastated the cutthroat population. So, many Yellowstone grizzlies pivoted away from fishing, Neal said.
However, there have been concerted efforts to remove the lake trout, and cutthroats are making a comeback, he said. That means grizzlies are starting to take up fishing again.
As for Bruno’s ice fishing, Neal said that’s rare, but not unheard of.
“They can find trout that have been trapped, or even partially frozen in the ice. And they can break through the ice and grab the fish, one by one,” he said.
Bruno Is Doing Great
Simmons said that he and his clients got to watch Bruno ice fish for about 45 minutes last week. By this week, the ice had disappeared.
And so had Bruno.
Bruno wandering off isn’t unusual, Simmons said. While some bears hang out in specific areas, there’s no telling when or where Bruno will appear.
“He’s so hard to photograph. He pops up just about anywhere. He’s a mystery bear,” Simmons said.
Bruno’s is estimated to be 19 years old. He’s easily identifiable by his massive size, as well as distinctive scars on forehead and one of his hind legs, Simmons said.
Bruno’s wandering ways are typical of a large, dominant male grizzly, Neal said.
“They basically spend most of their lives walking. They walk through the ecosystem using the marvelous noses that they have,” to find food sources, he said.
When the legendary Grizzly 399 was still alive, Bruno was often seen in her company, and it’s thought that he sired many of her cubs.
Grizzly 399 was struck and killed by a vehicle Highway 26/89 in the Snake River Canyon in October of 2024.
Her last cub, Spirit, was with her at the time, and reportedly fled the scene unharmed. It’s hoped that the cub, thought to be a male, was old enough to survive on his own.
There have been no verified reports of Spirit emerging from hibernation this spring, but many fans remain hopeful that he might reappear.
And given Spirit’s unusually large size, it’s also been speculated that Bruno is his sire.
Age 19 isn’t exactly young for a grizzly, but Bruno probably still has many good years left, Neal said.
“He’s still in the prime of his life,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
