Originally published in Big Sky Journal.
Patrick Trotter’s Cutthroat: Native Trout of the West (Second Edition, Revised and Updated; University of California Press, $34.95) is a thorough compendium on our local trout species. Well written and approachable, Trotter elaborates on the 14 subspecies of cutthroat trout recognized by Dr. Robert J. Behnke, professor emeritus at Colorado State University and the foremost authority on North America’s native trout. This revised and updated edition tells the stories, history and ecology of our favorite fish. Not only does Trotter write about the cutthroat’s past but also about the concerns and challenges of its future. Trotter presents just enough background on all topics to engage both novice and expert anglers with detailed footnotes, along with maps, tables and photographs, interspersed with tales of his own fishing adventures.