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Lahonton Cutthroat Trout
Oncorhynchus clarki
henshawi |
JOSEPH TOMELLERI GRAPHIC
TEXT BY DENNIS BITTON
There are probably more man hours expended per pounds of
Lahontan cutthroat trout caught than any other trout
species. Think about it. It's spooky. Like steelheaders,
but landlocked, the participating fly fishers pay the
time it takes to catch a Lahontan.
Known because of their reputation as being big fish (up
to four feet long said Fremont in his notes in 1845),
Lahontan cutthroat still have an aura about them that
makes them popular with fly fishers. The biggest
sport-caught Lahontan on record was a 41-pound behemoth
caught in Pyramid Lake, Nevada, in 1925. Even larger
trout were caught from the same water by commercial
nets.
These large trout spawned in small tributaries, and
unregulated irrigation diversions coupled with an
extended drought, and a large-scale commercial fishery,
caused the extinction of Lahontan cutthroat trout in
Pyramid Lake and many other locations by 1940. While
Lahontans were eventually re-introduced across much of
the region, they have never approached the size of the
earlier fish, indicating that the Pyramid lake fish were
a distinct race of giants that is lost forever.
Named after ancient Lake Lahontan--located in the
western part of the Great Basin--today's Lahontan
cutthroat trout inhabit lakes and streams in an area
vastly reduced since the time of their ancestors. Today
you can find Lahontans in Pyramid Lake, Lake Tahoe, and
the surrounding drainages of the Walker River, Humbolt
River, and Reece River in Nevada.
Lahontans resemble anadromous coastal cutthroats, with
an overall silvery hue to the body. But since they
developed in lakes as opposed to serving some sea time
like their distant cousins, today's Lahontans are
largely a bluish and silver lake fish with relatively
few spots distributed all over the body, back and tail
of the fish. The spots on the Lahontan are large and
round.
For years fly fishers visited Reno in the spring to cast
for the spawning Lahontans. They'd pay the fee to go on
the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation and take small step
ladders or plastic or metal milk crates to stand on in
the lake. They needed the extended height to reach
further out into the lake where the fish were moving.
When float tubes came along, a whole new method of
fishing for Lahontans developed, and the preferred
method today is to slowly troll or cast flies on
sinking-tip lines. Successful patterns vary, but leech
patterns, "down, dark and uglies", and streamer patterns
in an extraordinary breadth of choices, all have
produced big fish for aggressive and lucky fly fishers.
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