Efforts to save Lahontan cutthroat trout recognized
A team working to bring back the Lahontan cutthroat trout to the area has been honored.
The Rachel Carson Group Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was presented to the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Broodstock and Lake Reintroduction Team. The team is comprised of the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery in Gardnerville, UNR and the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe.
2012 was the first time the Lahontan cutthroat reproduced naturally in the Lake Tahoe Basin in more than 70 years. This is the largest species of trout in the world.
Now the trout are being reintroduced to water bodies in the Sierra.
Where did this species successfully reproduce in Tahoe? I have been observing this program for well over a decade with utter failure in Tahoe. Fallen leaf has been a joke. And now killing the fish in the upper truckee.? I’m not convinced and it appears like a huge waste of money. Next the Kokanee will be eradicated… The lake has a dam!!! It’s not natural anymore!! All this makes sense in pyramid and many backcountry lakes but this effort in Tahoe is a joke. Be happy with the mackinaw rainbows brooks and browns. They were born here in these creeks. Those genetically made cutthroats are not…
IDK, I agree that the lake has changed since the dam, but at one time the cutthroat was the only trout in Lake Tahoe. The numbers were so large that it was fished commercially, and so good that Mark Twain had them shipped to him on ice.
The fish are not naturally reproducing at any rate that is notable. The fish are not the native species as the native species is extinct! This is nothing more than a feel good award to continue funding to something that is scientifically not possible. I would love to see the fish planted in any one of the tributaries feeding the Lake. Use weirs at each end keep them healthy and sell catch and release permits to fish them. Fallen Leaf was a drastic failure and so will Tahoe. Don’t waste any more tax payer dollars please!
Joby, We have both been here a long time. I’m begining to wonder what is left of a native species in the clear waters of the big lake?
As a kid I used to fish Star lake up at the top of high meadows trail, for golden trout, but then was told they were planted to.
Sure, we’re surrounded by pine trees, the bears are coming back into town for the trash and all the other critters that call Tahoe home year round.
Oh well, I’m glad to be livin’ here as it sure beats the hell out of livin’ in the city.
Take care, Old Long Skiis
Native species that I know of are Lahnton Redsides, Speckled Dace, Tahoe Whitefish (very rare). Most of the lakes and rivers that surround the basin and reach into Alpine County all have planted Rainbow, Brown, and Brooke Trout. Likely what you caught at Star Lake were Brookies I had fished there many years only species I caught. Lake Tahoe had an abundance of Pauite Cutthroate Trout. They were commercially harvested and sold primarily during the boom in Virginia City. Their fate was sealed when the Army Corps of Engineers built the dam at the mouth of the Truckee River. The Native Cutthroat spawned downstream. At that point there were many species introduced to Lake Tahoe in the early 1900’s. Browns, Rainbows, Lake Trout then finally the Kokanee Salmon are the species that survived. All but the Lake Trout spawn upstream of which we have 63 tributaries.
From what I understand… Glen Alpine Creek had a pair of Lahontan Cutthroat try to spawn but there is no proof that they succeeded. So… saying that “Lahontan cutthroat reproduced naturally in the Lake Tahoe Basin in more than 70 years” is a fallacy and just another move to solidify getting more money thrown at the project. Is the proof out there? Show us the science!
Joby & Victor, Thank you both for some fish history.
Fish on!!! Stop the motor, feels like a big one! Reel in so we don’t get tangled and grab the net! OLS