LOOKING FOR BONNEVILLE CUTTHROATS BY JOHN BERRY

For the last three years our local Trout Unlimited group, Arkansas’ White River Chapter # 698, has planted Bonneville Cutthroat Trout eggs in Catch and Release sections of the White and Norfork Rivers in an effort to introduce a sustainable species of trout to our area. A sustainable species is one that reproduces naturally and does not require extensive stocking, like our brown trout. With our perpetual hatchery funding crises, this makes a lot of sense. If you have ever caught a wild eleven inch brown trout and compared its beauty and quality of the fight to that of a freshly stocked rainbow, you will quickly realize the allure of an additional sustainable species of wild trout to our waters.

The Bonneville Cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus Clarkii, Utah, is native to the Bonneville River drainage in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada and is thought to be related to Yellowstone Cutthroat trout. Cutthroat trout are native to the Rocky Mountains and were first scientifically identified by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Hence the species name Clarkii. The Bonneville Cutthroat is the state trout of Utah. The eggs we planted were from the Bear River sub species and were obtained from the state hatchery in Wyoming.

The introduction of a non native species can be a disastrous error. Several years ago some unthinking so introduced lake trout to Yellowstone Lake. This species has taken over the lake and has all but destroyed the native Yellowstone Cutthroat population in the lake and has severely impacted its spawning runs to the lake from the river. In an effort to control the lake trout in Yellowstone Lake, you are required to remove any lake trout caught from the lake. This introduction has been carefully vetted by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and is not considered to be an invasive species.

The Bonneville Cutthroat closely resembles rainbow trout with a few differences. They have the bright red characteristic cutthroat slash marks on the underside of their head (their throat) and their spots are much larger than those of our rainbow or cuttbow trout (across between an rainbow and a cutthroat). They also have a slightly larger head than our rainbows. They do not resemble the West Slope Cutthroat that we now have in our streams except for the bright slash marks on their throats.

The question that is intriguing me is, how are they doing? We have had three stockings over a three year period. Follow up by T. L. Lauerman; the Trout Unlimited Project Chairman indicates that the majority of the planted eggs have hatched. After this period of time, we should be seeing some small Bonneville Cutthroat trout. Whenever I fish the Catch and Release sections on the Norfork or Rim Shoals on the White, I am always looking out for them.

If any of you see or catch one of these Cutthroats, I would appreciate it you contact me and let me know when and where. I would definitely appreciate a photo to document your catch.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for over thirty years.