The East Carson River and its numerous tributaries are home to populations of mostly 6- to 10-inch cutthroats. Photo by Don Vachini

Nothing against the gleaming 14-inch rainbow trout I had just caught-and-released, but a 14-inch rainbow wasn't the object of my desire.

I had romanced the thought of working this meadow stretch of the West Carson River in Hope Valley some 160 years earlier, when native Lahontan cutthroat trout weighing between 20 and 30 pounds were the norm. I had even silently pondered the bend a 20-pound stream trout would put on my fly rod, so the relatively diminutive rainbow was somewhat of a disappointment.

Two events came to mind that helped me gain perspective of the size of this ancient subspecies. During a July 1979 trip, I watched my son, Matt, then 13, strain to lift a hefty 5 1/2-pounder from the frothy flows of the East Carson River, which quite literally filled his net. The second occurred in 1982 at Martis Lake, the state's pilot catch-and-release lake, where then 10-year-old son Jason skillfully landed a monstrous 6-pound, 25-inch leviathan that looked more like a salmon than trout. While both were exceptional specimens, I was captivated by the knowledge that both were virtual minnows compared to their broad-shouldered ancestors.

According to Eric Gerstung, an associate biologist with the Department of Fish and Game's Inland Fisheries Division and the statewide coordinator for threatened trout, the Lahontan is an incredible subspecies. "Fast growing and long-lived, they are unique in tolerating highly alkaline waters where other trout fare poorly," he said.

Historically, the Lahontan cutthroat was the only trout species found in the Truckee, Carson and Walker river drainages in California and the Humboldt and Reese river systems of Nevada, which form the rough boundaries of pre-historic Lahontan Lake. Scientists believe they gained entry into this vast inland sea via the Snake River system during an unusually high water period. About 8,000 years ago, the lake began to recede, depositing populations in various drainages throughout east central California and northwestern Nevada. Now referred to as the Lahontan Basin, lakes Tahoe, Walker and Pyramid are tiny present-day remnants of this ancient lake.

Remaining in harmony with their arid climate and harsh ecological environment, these cutthroats used the bountiful and intricate arteriole river systems to maintain their genetic integrity for centuries. Documented vividly by explorer John C. Fremont on his 1844 expedition through the region, his first-hand journal accounts compared them to Columbia River salmon and refers to them as "salmon-trout." Incredibly, reports of Lahontan cutts to 60 pounds were recorded.

As western Nevada and east central California were settled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a host of impediments brought the species to the brink of elimination within five decades. While pollution, commercial fisheries and habitat degradation did much to devastate populations, dams blocking spawning access, displacement by non-native trout and hybridization were major factors in its near demise.

Gerstung mentions that as recently as 1850, Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi was estimated to be present in lakes that covered more than 300,000 acres and 3,500 miles of stream. However, by 1915, the species was present in only 2 percent of its native California range. Today it is estimated that Lahontans inhabit about half of 1 percent of their former lake habitat and 10 percent of the streams."

THE RECOVERY PLAN
Thanks to the efforts of Trout Unlimited, Cal Trout, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and Game and the Nevada Division of Wildlife, brood stock refuges were established in Heenan and Pyramid lakes. In addition, the trout was granted threatened status under the Endangered Species Act in 1970, and in 1995 the official recovery plan for the Lahontan cutthroat was published.