Cutthroat Trout

This is my favorite species of trout. Common in the Methow River and the alpine lakes these fish readily hit dry flies and when they do, they dive and don't come up. In the river they can get big, six pound cutts are not unusual, but alpine fish are usually small by comparison. The pictured cutt took an egg fly in the fall when salmon were spawning in the river. It was released untouched after the photo was snapped.