Lahontan Cutthroats In Nevada

[Bill B.]

I found this story interesting. It's from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/us/lahontan-cutthroat-trout-make-a-comeback.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130424&_r=0

[dennis boatman]

I lived near Reno when I was much younger and fished in Pyramid Lake a few times...Last summer I caught a small Lahontan Cutthroat in the west Carson River...beautiful little fish...Headed back out there in about a month...thanks for the article...

[Al Agnew]

Great story and great news! Back in the late 1980s, I entered and won the Nevada 1st of state trout stamp contest, depicting a Lahontan cutthroat. At the time, I'd never even seen a picture of one, but I did all the research I could and even had a friend from MDC contact a friend of his in the Nevada fisheries department and have him send photos of Lahontan cuts. The photos he sent were of adult fish they had netted from Pyramid (this was before the Pilot Peak strain was propagated and the fish were remnants from other lakes, and nobody was certain back then that they were "real" Lahontans). The Pyramid fish were silvery and pretty dull-looking, and looked to be about 20-24 inches long. But he also sent a couple of photos of Pilot Peak fish from that one creek, and they were gorgeous little fish, as the article said with olive backs and a strong blush of red and orange on their sides. So I opted to paint one of the Pilot Peak fish in its (at that time) native small stream habitat. The entry won, and, I might add, was one of the few trout stamps I did back in those days that actually made me a significant amount of money.

I'll bet that, had I painted that fish today, it would not have won, simply because now people are again used to seeing real Lahontans, big ones, in Pyramid Lake.

[ollie]

Using ladders seems like cheating to me. I know a few years back I saw a couple of guys using them to target spawning smallies on a creek nearby. Was glad to see them get a ticket as well! The story is a cool one though.

[ness]

Yeah -- neat to see those native cutts brought back. I hadn't heard the story of the Pilot Peak strain. Getting a 100% DNA match is pretty remarkable. Neat addition to the story Al too. Anyway to show us your painting? I wonder if Tomelleri has done one...

[mic]

That story was awesome.

[Wayne SW/MO]

There's a small lake in SW Oregon that has lahontan's in it. It's quite the trip to get in there in the spring and fish it. It can be muddy roads, winds around 30 and cold, but the fish probably average 20".

[Al Agnew]

For some reason, the Lahontan trout stamp image is not in my database. I hope I have at least a print of it that I can photograph back in Missouri.

[kjackson]

Washington State uses Lahontans in some of the lakes in the east side (the desert side) of the state. There are a few lakes that are fairly alkaline and one in particular, Lenore, won't support any other fish--only Lahontans. The most popular fishery is in the early spring when the trout move toward the inlet and outlets trying to find enough current in which to spawn.

They're colorful fish but not really pretty--kind of a greyish with a rose band and rose gill plates with some spots. Like most cutts, they're not great fighters; it's all bulldogging runs with few if any jumps.

[stlfisher]

Great story.