Salmonidae
Cutthroat trout
Oncorhynchus clarkii · 15–45 cm, with lake-dwelling forms reaching 60 cm.
How it feeds
Cutthroat are shallow-water drift-feeders with a strong preference for the calm margins of a river — bank edges, backwaters and behind boulders — rather than the main current. The name comes from the red slash under the jaw.
How to fish for it
Fish them close to the bank with a small dry, and do not wade: cutthroat hold within a metre of the edge and a careless footstep clears 20 metres of bank. Native-range fish should always be released.
Flies that work: Parachute Adams · Elk Hair Caddis · Hare's Ear Nymph · Small Royal Wulff
Cutthroat trout in the ledger
Green River below Flaming Gorge
Dutch John, Utah, United StatesA big, cold tailwater that grows enormous rainbows and hosts a genuine cicada hatch.
rainbow · brown · cutthroat
May · Jun · Jul · Aug · SepNorth Umpqua River
Cascade foothills, Oregon, United StatesThe home of the greased-line swing, and one of the last rivers with a fly-only steelhead reach.
steelhead · rainbow · cutthroat
Jul · Aug · Sep · OctWhite River, Arkansas
Ozark foothills below Bull Shoals Dam, Arkansas, United StatesA tailwater you fish from a boat, where the generation schedule is the tide table.
brown · rainbow · cutthroat
Apr · May · Jun · Sep · Oct · NovYellowstone River
Montana and Wyoming, United StatesThe longest free-flowing river in the lower 48, and the best native cutthroat fishery in it.
cutthroat · rainbow · whitefish
Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct