I know cutthroat trout conservation projects aren’t sexy. They don’t grab headlines in the fly fishing world the way that a new rod release, or wader drop, does. It’s sadly ironic that these important stories don’t get as much attention as they deserve, since they’re largely responsible for the restoration of literally hundreds of miles of trout streams all throughout the West. Without the efforts of dedicated state fishery biologists, we’d likely have a lot fewer places to fish for any trout, not just the West’s natives.
Nowhere is the importance of cutthroat restoration more stark than in the story of Utah Lake.
A Desert Oasis
Utah was settled in 1847, when Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24. Before then, fur trappers, traders, and explorers had visited the territory, but Brigham Young and the rest of the Mormons were the first to make the area their permanent home.
It wasn’t until 1849, though, that Mormon settlers arrived from Salt Lake and set up outposts in Utah Valley. They congregated around the 96,000-acre body of freshwater that’s known today as Utah Lake.
Early accounts of the lake describe it as an oasis, a place full of crystal-clear water and enormous trout. As far back as 1776, when Fathers Dominguez and Escalante explored the Utah Valley area, they noted that Utah Lake was “teeming with trout” and that the native Indians dried fish for later consumption.
We now know that those native trout were cutthroat, likely a unique strain of the Bonneville Cutthroat that still exists today. They were reliably recorded in sizes of up to 16 pounds, although there are historical records indicating much larger fish from Utah Lake.
From Cutthroat to Carp
The cutthroat trout were quickly utilized by the settlers, and within a few years, there was a thriving commercial fishery on Utah Lake. Commercial fishermen quickly deployed seines and long set-lines to catch trout, and the fish were used almost exclusively for human consumption.
By 1899, 500,000 pounds of fish caught from Utah Lake were shipped out of state. And by 1933, cutthroat trout were officially extinct in Utah Lake.
In 1882, carp were planted into the lake as another food source. They were harvested and shipped out of state to feed the workers along the Transcontinental Railroad, and if you had to pinpoint when Utah Lake’s fate was sealed, that would be the year.
Since 1882, carp have exploded throughout the lake. They’re so prolific now that Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources runs programs to net the carp and turn them into fertilizer. Since that started in 2008, some 30 million pounds of carp have been removed from Utah Lake.
The carp have eaten all the vegetation, turning Utah Lake’s once-clear water to a murky mess. Add to that all the diversions for agriculture and residential use, and Utah Lake doesn’t have the right mix of water quality and temperatures to support trout anymore, let alone cutthroat.
Adding Other Fish
Within a few years of commercial fishing operations starting in the 1850s, it became clear that the settlers would need fish other than trout to harvest from the lake.
They planted American Shad, silver salmon, lake trout, grayling, American eels, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill, brook trout, brown trout, and goldfish between 1887 and 1927. Of those planted fish, only the largemouth bass have stuck around. Silver salmon never thrived in the lake (not surprisingly), and neither did lake trout.
Modern Cutthroat Conservation
So, what does all this have to do with modern cutthroat trout conservation? Especially if Utah Lake can’t support trout right now, and likely will never have the water quality to do so in the future?
Well, for one thing, it’s a great story of losing out on something great before we even knew we had it. Pyramid Lake, in Nevada, followed a similar story, although its cutthroat trout hung on long enough into the 20th century to become a popular sport fishery. Utah Lake’s cutthroat trout were only ever used for food.
And with Utah Lake’s carp problem, among other water quality issues, it’s a reminder that they’re not making new lakes, rivers, or trout habitat these days. We’re so limited in the places that these amazing fish can thrive, even with a 96,000-acre freshwater lake sitting right along Utah’s major population corridor.
Biologists in Utah have done incredible work restoring native cutthroat trout throughout the state. The Utah Cutthroat Slam offers anglers a way to contribute to cutthroat conservation efforts while catching all four native subspecies from their historical native ranges.
All native cutthroat in Utah are confined to those colored areas on the map. Utah doesn’t have a ton of water (it’s one of the driest states in the Union), but it’s still stark to see how little area these native fish occupy, especially considering they once flourished all throughout the state.
Even though cutthroat trout conservation doesn’t grab the headlines, it really should. It’s the heart and soul of restoring creeks and rivers to fishable glory, in the places where that’s still possible. Utah Lake will never be a trout fishery again, so we can’t afford to lose any more water.
Big Cutthroat Still Exist
Despite the loss of so much habitat, big cutthroat trout in Utah still exist. They’re not the 15-pounders of the 1840s, but they’re still big enough to get the adrenaline going.
Chase and Aimee Bartee, in an episode of the Rare Trout Chronicles, highlighted just how nice a cutthroat you can still catch in the Beehive State.
Hopefully, after seeing this video, you’ll understand why some of us still care so deeply about cutthroat trout. They’re worth salvaging, anywhere that we can.