Colorado River Cutthroat Trout

Introduction: The Colorado River Cutthroat is another minor subspecies of the Yellowstone Cutthroat, that is native to streams in the Colorado River drainage in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Like many of the Cutthroat, the Colorado River Cutthroat is very susceptible to hybrization with rainbow trout and being replaced due to competition with non-native trout. Today the Colorado River Cutthroat consists of about 100 pure populations that are mostly isolated in small streams above barriers. This was what I found in Colorado where these trout occured in a tiny creek where they were mixed with brook trout that had moved up from the Colorado River. However a barrier had been constructed up stream a little ways where these trout existed unimpeded by competition. In the Colorado Rockies, this trout is stocked in many alpine lakes where it provides a target for anglers. Today stream offering the longest amount of continous habitat for this fish today is the Little Snake River in Wyoming where they occur for 36 miles of stream habitat above a barrier.

Description: The spotting on the Colorado River Cutthroat varies a lot, but they tend to have large spots that are concentrated toward the tail and above the lateral line. Their coloration of the Colorado River Cutthroat is usually much more intense than that of the Yellowstone, Fine Spotted and Bonneville Cutthroat. It is usually green to brass along their back, turning to a bright golden yellow color with a red stripe along the lateral line. Some individuals may exhibit orange tints along their belly while others have white bellies.