fish · The Trophy Room
Lahontan Cutthroat Trout
The largest cutthroat on Earth, thriving in a place it was never native to. The Lahontan is a desert-basin fish built for harsh alkaline water, and the Colville Tribes' Omak Lake — a deep, salty, landlocked lake in the Okanogan country — grows them big. A hard-fighting native of the Great Basin, transplanted and flourishing on the dry side of the state.
Identifying
- the namesake red-orange slash under the jaw — the cutthroat signature
- large, evenly scattered round black spots over the whole body, even onto the belly
- coppery to brassy sides, often with a rosy flush; built heavier and deeper than a coastal cutthroat
- adipose fin present; no teeth on the back of the tongue like a rainbow
Facts
- the biggest cutthroat subspecies in the world — the strain historically topped 40 pounds in Nevada's Pyramid Lake
- specially adapted to high-alkalinity water that would kill most trout, which is exactly why it fits Omak Lake
- Omak Lake sits on the Colville Reservation and is managed by the Tribes — a Colville tribal permit is required to fish it
