Westslope Cutthroat Trout

Westslopes used to have the widest distribution of all the cutthroats. Today, genetically pure populations can be found in less than two percent of their original range, and it's shrinking every day. The main culprit is hybridzation with introduced rainbows.

You can still find some nice representatives of these fish in the Flathead River above Flathead Lake, in the Salmon River and its tributaries in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and in Washington's Methow River. And if you can get yourself to the Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho's Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness or the Selway in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness you can find some beauties.