Intro | High Lakes | Day Hikes | Overnight Camping | Park Streams | Local Amenities | Greenbacks | Map (3 MB .pdf)

Greenbacks
Greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki stomias) are native to the upper drainages of the Arkansas and South Platte rivers, and their historic native range is exclusively in Colorado. Because of overfishing, habitat degradation (mining was rampant in the headwaters of both river systems), and most importantly, the introduction of exotic species, greenbacks were eliminated from their native range, and by 1937 were widely thought to be extinct. In 1969 a few small, isolated populations of greenbacks were discovered in high alpine lakes in RMNP. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the Colorado Department of Fish and Game and the National Park Service, used these genetically pure greenbacks as broodstock to reintroduce the cutthroat to their native waters in and around RMNP.

The Colorado, North Fork St. Vrain, Big Thompson, and Fall rivers have roadside fishing for brook, brown, and rainbow trout. Greenbacks (above) are the native cutthroat trout on the east side of the Continental Divide. Colorado River cutthroat trout are the native species

---

Greenbacks have the dark yellow-green backs common to most cutthroat species. They have large round spots, mostly concentrated toward the tail of the trout. They have the typical reddish-orange cutthroat slash and--particularly in mature males--intense red gill plates and bellies. They are the only native cutthroat species in RMNP east of the Continental Divide.

Most greenbacks in RMNP range from 8 to 12 inches, but there are rare larger specimens up to 16 inches in particularly fertile high lakes. The largest greenbacks are at the low-elevation Lily Lake on Highway 7 just inside the park boundary. This is a float-tube-friendly, catch-and-release lake just yards from the parking area. There is no inlet or outlet stream and as a result, no natural reproduction. Pure-strain greenbacks are stocked there annually and frequently reach sizes of 18 or 19 inches, but they are fished hard all summer and are much more difficult to catch than trout in the high lakes.

Lily Lake (above) is a catch-and-release, barbless-hook-only greenback fishery on Highway 7 just inside the park boundary.

---

Ross Purnell is the editorial director of Fly Fisherman magazine. He used to live near RMNP in Fort Collins, Colorado, and now lives in Pennsylvania.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6