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  • Everything you wanted to know: California golden trout

    California golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita) Species summary and status: The state fish of California, California golden trout once occupied about 450 miles of stream habitat in the upper South Fork Kern River and the adjacent Golden Trout Creek. Currently, the trout is native only to two high-altitude watersheds in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. The…

  • Travel Featured Fishing

    When terminal doesn’t have to mean the end

    Sometimes you get what you ask for. Sometimes you get much more, but my experience pursuing Lahontans served me a reminder that things worth having are always worth earning.

    Conservation success and concern for Lahontan cutthroat trout Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of the Western Native Trout Challenge, attempting to land each of the 20 native trout species in their historical ranges of the 12 states in the West. You can follow Ritz as he…

  • Travel

    Everything you wanted to know: Lahontan cutthroat trout

    Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) Species Summary and Status: The Lahontan cutthroat trout is native to the Lahontan Basin of northern Nevada, northeastern California, and southeastern Oregon.  One of the oldest lineages of cutthroat trout, it originally inhabited the ancient Lahontan Basin at least several 100,000 years ago.  As of publication, 72 self-sustaining Lahontan…

  • Travel

    Being more than ‘a trout guy’

    “New Mexicans have been here on this land for more than 400 years,” Mitchell said. “You can’t come in with a ‘trout guy’ perspective. These are age old relationships that we have to foster and work together with to build trust.”

    A high alpine meadow in New Mexico. Daniel A. Ritz photo. How community is key in Rio Grande cutthroat conservation in New Mexico Daniel Ritz is fishing across the Western United States this summer in an attempt to reach the Master Caster class of the Western Native Trout Challenge, attempting to land each of the 20 native trout…

  • Travel

    Everything you wanted to know: Rio Grande cutthroat trout

    Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis) Species status and summary: Rio Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) were first discovered in 1541 by Francisco Coronado’s expedition in the upper Pecos River, although they were not formally described until 1856. They represent the southern extent of the cutthroat trout species, historically ranging from the mountainous headwaters of…