Colorado River Cutthroat

Colorado River Cutts have been eliminated from much of their former range, especially the lower elevation waters, by the same things that have destroyed so many populations of native cutts--the introduction of rainbow trout, urban development, dams, overgrazing, logging, etc.

According to Trout Unlimited's CSI,the most viable populations of these cutts can be found in the Blacks Fork drainage along the Wyoming-Utah border and in the LaBarge Creek system in Wyoming.

The population in Trappers Lake, Colorado, once a prized source of these fish, has unfortunately been destroyed in recent years. According to the Colorado DOW, the fish in the lake have become irreparably introgressed with introduced Yellowstone cutts and are now a hybrid swarm. Their reproduction has been limited by whirling disease, and competition with a growing number of introduced brook trout. Still, it is a beautiful place and some of the nearby streams and lakes provide fishing for what certainly look like Colorado River cutthroat.

Rocky Mountain National Park has several streams and lakes that have been restored with Colorado River cutthroats. The Rocky Mountain National Park Fishing Information and Regulations brochure that is handed out at the park has more information.

Other populations can be found in the high-elevation waters of Utah's Wasatch Plateau and in the headwaters of the San Juan River in southern Colorado.