Rivers


Rivers and streams offer some awesome fishing opportunities for cutthroat trout.
Whether you are fly fishing, using live bait or casting lures with your spinning gear, you can have a lot of fun fishing in the rivers for cutthroat trout.  Find the parts of the rivers with current breaks or just some slightly slower moving water near fast moving water.  These current breaks are key for finding good numbers of these fish.  The bigger fish will almost always be found in the deeper water near some faster water.


Spawning Time


The spawning period for sea-run cutthroat trout can extend from December through May. These trout spawn in the smallest tributaries of small to moderate-sized streams.  The sea-run cutthroat trout will migrate to the headwaters of these streams and they usually spawn in water less than 2 feet wide.

Cutthroat trout that are not the sea-run type will usually look for moving water that comes into or out of the lake.  These fish will spawn in shallow riffles, often not more than a few inches in depth, which have a gentle gradient and clean, pea-sized gravel, often not far from pools or other cover.  On most lakes and rivers, these fish spawn in the spring when water temperatures are around 50 degrees.