Fishing reference · Colorado trout
One native fish and three that came from somewhere else. The orange-slashed cutthroat that was here before us, the wary European brown, the jeweled brook char of the cold headwaters, and the acrobatic rainbow — what's native, what's introduced, and what swims the private water of East Beaver Creek.
Four trout
Colorado's only native trout, named for the orange-red slash under the jaw. Several subspecies once filled the state's waters — the greenback cutthroat (the official state fish), the Colorado River cutthroat, and the Rio Grande cutthroat. Conservation work has pulled the greenback back from the brink. A cutthroat in a high cold creek is the closest thing Colorado has to a fish from before settlement.
A wild, wary, beautifully spotted fish brought from Europe in the 1800s. Browns are the dominant wild trout in much of Colorado's moving water, including the three private miles of East Beaver Creek at Elk Glade. They hold in the cut banks and the deeper runs, spook easily, and reward a careful drift — the thinking angler's trout.
Not technically a trout but a char, the brookie was brought from the eastern US and thrives in cold, high, headwater creeks — exactly the water East Beaver Creek provides. Vivid: dark green vermiculated backs, red spots haloed in blue, white-edged fins. Eager and abundant in the upper beaver complex, they're often a young angler's first fish on a fly.
Native to the Pacific drainages, rainbows were stocked across Colorado and now run wild in many rivers. Hard-fighting and acrobatic, marked by the pink-to-red lateral stripe. They're the backbone of much of Colorado's tailwater and stocked fishing, though high wild creeks like East Beaver lean more to browns and brookies.
Frequently asked
Only the cutthroat trout is native to Colorado. Its subspecies include the greenback cutthroat (the official state fish), the Colorado River cutthroat, and the Rio Grande cutthroat. Brown trout (from Europe), rainbow trout (from the Pacific drainages), and brook trout (a char from the eastern US) were all introduced and now run wild across much of the state.
The greenback cutthroat trout is Colorado's state fish. Once thought extinct, it was rediscovered and has been the focus of major conservation and reintroduction work. It's a subspecies of cutthroat — the only trout lineage native to Colorado — and represents the fish that filled the state's cold waters before European settlement.
East Beaver Creek holds wild brown, brook, and cutthroat trout across its three private miles on the ranch. The upper beaver complex runs to eager brookies; the lower runs and cut banks hold wary browns. It's fly-only, single barbless, catch-and-release water — small-stream fishing for wild fish, not a stocked pond.
Cutthroat: an orange-red slash under the jaw. Brown: butter-gold body with black and red spots, often haloed. Brook (a char): dark vermiculated 'worm-track' back, red spots in blue halos, white-edged fins. Rainbow: a pink-to-red stripe down the side with heavy black speckling. Habitat helps too — brookies and cutthroat favor cold high headwaters; browns and rainbows range into larger, lower water.
Program
Fly fishing East Beaver Creek
Three private miles, wild fish, fly only.
Guide
Fly-fishing guide
Hatches, tactics, the private water.
Stewardship
Conservation
Protecting East Beaver Creek's cold water.
