So as not to hijack another thread on this Forum, I thought I'd move this over to a new thread.

Here is what I posted earlier:

The only wild trout currently resident in Texas are the rainbows in McKittrick Creek in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It is a restricted fishery (no fishing allowed).

Both Limpia Creek in the Davis Mountains and McKittrick Creek are believed to have once held Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout.

We are in the midst of planning a field trip out west to visit those sites with officials from TPWD and Trout Unlimited, with the hope that the cutthroats could be restored to Texas. I will know more after our planning meeting next Tuesday.

And here's a copy of another post on that thread with a link to an interesting article about the possibility of trout being native to Texas:

there where a bunch of stocking programs back in the early part of the late 1800s and turn of the 1900s
http://www.grtu.org/archives/Cutthroat_in_Texas_Garret_Matlock.pdf

and on another forum a guy has taking pictures of small trout in a little stream in the guadalupe mnts

McKittrick Creek is a small creek in McKittrick Canyon, a gorgeous place in the middle of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, elevation somewhere around 7000 feet (it's 7700 feet on McKittrick Ridge above the creek). The canyon is one of the few spots within hundreds of miles with maple trees, so at this time of year the scenery is spectacular.

Here's a link to some photos of the canyon taken at this time of year:

http://www.texasexplorer.com/guadmckcanyon.htm

I contacted the guy who took these photos and he told me he had seen the trout in the creek when he was hiking to take these pics.

It's quite an interesting mental exercise to consider the geological and biological factors in play. How far is is from McKittrick Canyon to the next ecosphere that can support cold water fish such as the cutthroat? At one time there was continuity between Big Bend and the Rockies such that trout were endemic throughout. My mind dwells on, how long did it take for the vast geological changes to take place that isolated those fish? That they survived so very, very geologically long up there in little old McKittrick canyon in that little creek; all the while the rest of the world spun on, the epochs marched on.

Anyway, those kinds of things whirl through my mind when I read about such things. There's a bit of geology in my family.

I remember climbing Guadalupe Peak way back when I was studying geology in college. We started off at the bottom all buttoned up in our winter coats, shivering in the cold. By the time we reached the summit we were down to t-shirts and sweating! It's a gorgeous place.

According to Robert Behnke's book Trout and Salmon of North America, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout were native to the headwaters of the Pecos, Rio Grande and Canadian Rivers. The closest subpopulation on his map appears to be in the high country of southern New Mexico, just north of the Texas border and west of the Pecos. It appears to be around Rio Bonito and Sierra Blanca Peak.

Patrick Trotter, in his book Cutthroat: Native Trout of the West has a map that includes the Texas populations of Rio Grande cutthroats as part of the "Historical distribution" of the fish.

Here is a link to a gentlemens story on the TKF. He backpacked in and got some beautiful photos of the trout in McKittrick Creek.

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=131911&start=0

Cool! I love seeing those trout. They have noticeable parr marks on their sides, so they could be young of the year, but it is conceivable that they are cuttbows, if in fact the rainbows were dumped in on top of the Rio Grandes as the anecdotal evidence suggests.

When we are up there this winter, we hope to be able to obtain some genetic material from the trout for DNA testing. That should tell us whether there are any cutthroat genes in the current population.

Wow! that is cool. Wild trout in Texas who would have thought?

Les

that water is so clear it looks like the trout are floating in air

Yep. That's the way that trout like it.

Mick, that is outstanding. I did not know trout could be native to Texas, that is so cool. I have never been to the areas you speak of, but it would be great to restore the fish to their native waters. I wish trout could handle our climate. I like trout fishing! The bigger, the better... :-)

I met yesterday with the Board of Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited and have their support for the project. I meet Tuesday with TPWD's Western Region Inland Fisheries Director, their Habitat Restoration Chief, and the fisheries biologist who wrote the original article about Rio Grande Cutthroats in Texas to map out our initial field trip.

I will keep y'all informed as we proceed.

I think stocker trout pretty much blow...and give Texas fly anglers a chance to be posers...sort of like a white rapper..I mean they could be fishing for much sexier fish, like carp...or listening to bands like flaming lips or violent femmes...

That said, thinking that there might be a native Texas trout swimming around eating bugs and stuff makes me giddy.

Very cool read, and some great information and please keep us posted.

Think TPWD might stock some stripers in there to keep them trouts from taking over ?