A Lesson From History: The Extinct Yellowfin Cutthroat

A surprising cutthroat caught below Twin Lakes on the Arkansas River. From parts unknown.

The Southern Rockies used to be home to multiple subspecies of cutthroat trout, including the Colorado River, Rio Grande, Greenback, Bonneville, recently rediscovered San Juan, and extinct Yellowfin cutthroat. You may know about the recovery of the Greenbacks, once thought extinct in 1937, or the recovery of the Bonnevilles, thought extinct in 1970s, or even the recent rediscovery of previously…