What is Cutthroat Quest? - Cutthroat Quest

Cutthroat Quest is a blog sharing my experience learning about and catching cutthroat trout in Colorado and across the West. I also hope to share other adventures, trips, and unique data science research.

The idea for the Cutthroat Quest started with an advertisement from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department that included the state's Cutt Slam, a challenge to catch the four main subspecies in the state. Loving Wyoming, I thought the Cutt Slam would be fun to pursue, and I remembered seeing the cutthroat in the Colorado fishing app, so I thought about creating my own challenge to catch the subspecies in the two states.

As I researched the Colorado linages -- Colorado River (CRCT), Rio Grande (GRCT), and Greenback (GBCT) -- I found myself confused by where to find Greenbacks. As I went down the rabbit hole that included scientific papers, I learned what the scientists discovered only a decade ago: Greenbacks were limited to 4 miles of Bear Creek southwest of Colorado Springs. The fish stocked since the 1970's were hybrids, typically between the two lineages of CRCT -- oh, yes, there are two types that appear genetically distinct. On top of all that, there was yet another lineage of Colorado cutthroat unique to the San Juan Basin. In order for the two CRCT to be identified as subspecies, they must have unique phenotypic traits, which led to a paper studying spot patterns and morphalogical traits.

As a person who loves the outdoors and data analysis, I found all this fascinating, and it built a desire to learn more about cutthroats and share with others who have an interest in these fish.

During the remainder of 2020, I hope to:

Document the hybrid cutthroats in several lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park
Begin the Western Native Trout Challenge by catching CRCT and RGCT in Colorado
Catch and document an example of a "Green Lineage" CRCT with genetic markers unique to the Front Range
Attempt to use Python to capture spot data from pictures, and R to reproduce the work of Bestgen et al
Take at least one "Side Quest" to catch Kokanee salmon

After catching Colorado River, Rio Grande, and "Green Lineage" cutthroat, I will consider the Colorado section of the quest complete, leaving Greenbacks out of the blog for the time being. These three subspecies represent what is fishable in the state. While Greenbacks are fishable, I don't want to advertise the locations. Pressure should remain limited as established locations are used as brood stock. I summarize GBCT and report on any volunteer events I'm able to participate in, but I won't share trip reports. Even after I "complete" the Colordao Quest, I also hope to travel to other interesting cutthroat locations, like a high mountain lake with pure Trappers Lake CRCT.

Also of note is that I'm a novice tenkara angler. Coming from spoon and lure fishing with a spinning rod, I'm excited to work on technique and strategy without the concern for all the flies, lines, and leaders of "Western" fly fishing. That said, the Orvis Fly Fishing podcast introduced me to tenkara, and I find the show great listening.