Trout & Char Guide: Native Ranges by Species
When your fishing buddy tells you he caught a “native” fish, it’s OK to look at him with a bit of skepticism. Yes, a variety of trout and char reside in fisheries across the U.S. today. But that doesn’t mean they were always there.
Consider this your field guide for the native ranges of our favorite species of trout and char.
And remember: just because a trout is wild DOES NOT mean it is a native. Successful stockings have established naturally-reproducing wild trout populations in the creeks, rivers, and lakes that prove to be optimal environments.
Finless Trout = Stocked Trout
Man’s introduction of rainbows trout, brown trout, brook trout, and cutthroat trout to different watersheds nationwide is the reason these fish now exist outside of their native ranges. While humankind’s ecological interloping has had its pro’s and con’s, this article is not going to delve into that.
Because I’m not a scientist. Which reminds me; you can find links to the USGS and NRCS sources in the article under each species. Because, again… I’m not a scientist.
IMAGE: Weekender Media
Image: Weekender Media
Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
NATIVE RANGE: Pacific Slope from Kuskokwim River, Alaska, to (at least) Rio Santa Domingo, Baja California; upper Mackenzie River drainage (Arctic basin), Alberta and British Columbia; endorheic basins of southern Oregon. [USGS]
IMAGE: Weekender Media
Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis
NATIVE RANGE: Most of eastern Canada, from Newfoundland to western side of Hudson Bay; south in Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins to Minnesota and in the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to northern Georgia. [USGS]
IMAGE: Weekender Media
Cutthroat Trout
Oncorhynchus clarkii
NATIVE RANGE: Pacific Coast drainages from Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Eel River, northern California. Freshwater populations range through Rocky Mountains to Hudson Bay, Mississippi River, Great (including Lahontan, Bonneville, and Alvord basins), and Pacific basins from southern Alberta to Rio Grande drainage, New Mexico. [USGS}
SUBSPECIES WITH GENETIC DISTINCTIONS [NRCS]
Bonneville cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki utah
Coastal cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki clarki
Colorado River cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus
Greenback cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki stomias
Lahontan cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi
Paiute cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki sleniris
Rio Grande cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis
Yellowstone cutthroat - Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri
IMAGE: Pixabay
Golden Trout
Oncorhynchus aguabonita
NATIVE RANGE: Endemic to Golden Trout Creek (tributary of the upper Kern River) and the upper middle and upper portions of the South Fork Kern River, Tulare and Kern counties, California. [USGS]
Lake Trout
Salvelinus namaycush
NATIVE RANGE: Widely distributed from northern Canada and Alaska (missing in southern prairie provinces) south to New England and Great Lakes basin. In northwestern Montana, Lake Trout are native in Waterton Lake, Glenns Lake, Cosley Lake, and St. Mary Lake. In southwestern Montana, glacial relict populations of Lake Trout exist in Elk Lake and Twin Lake. [USGS]
IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons
Gila Trout
Oncorhynchus gilae
NATIVE RANGE: Gila River system, New Mexico and Arizona, including the San Francisco drainage in Arizona and New Mexico, and the Verde and Agua Fria drainages in Arizona. [USGS]
IMAGE: Sheldon Clouse, @bigazadventures
Apache Trout
Oncorhynchus apache
NATIVE RANGE: Apache Trout historically occupied streams and rivers in the upper White, Black, and Little Colorado River drainages in the White Mountains of east-central Arizona. [USGS]
IMAGE: Flickr
Arctic Char
Salvelinus alpinus
NATIVE RANGE: Circumpolar; coastal areas in Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific drainages from Newfoundland to Alaska; south along Atlantic Slope to New England. Also in Eurasia. [USGS]
IMAGE: Pixabay
Dolly Varden
Salvelinus malma
NATIVE RANGE: Arctic and Pacific drainages from Alaska to Puget Sound, Washington. Also in Asia. [USGS]
IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons
Bull Trout
Salvelinus confluentus
NATIVE RANGE: Bull trout historically occurred in major river drainages in the Pacific Northwest, from the southern limits of its range in the McCloud River in northern California and the Jarbidge River in Nevada, to the northern limits of its range in the headwaters of the Yukon River in the Northwest Territories, Canada.
Today in the U.S., bull trout are distributed throughout coastal and mountainous areas from southern Oregon and northern Nevada north to the Canadian border. Once common throughout this range, they have declined in overall distribution and abundance during the last century.
For example, bull trout are extirpated from California and inhabit only one river system in Nevada. Many populations in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho are at high risk of extirpation. [NRCS]