Freshwater · Colorado River
Trout - Cutthroat
These notes are district-general defaults. Search your lake or stream first — special waters override these rules. Full booklet: 2026 Freshwater Guide. Catch reports: Fish data.
Species group
TROUT
Season
Colorado River District waters follow Colorado River / district-specific freshwater rules in the 2026 Freshwater Sport Fishing Guide (not the coastal district tables alone). Look up Colorado River, border waters, and named Imperial / Riverside / San Bernardino waters in the guide’s special and district sections. IMPORTANT: If your lake, river, or stream is named in the Alphabetical List of Waters with Special Fishing Regulations (2026 Freshwater Sport Fishing Guide), those special rules override this district default.
Season notes
Confirm current bag, season, and gear with the freshwater booklet and any Arizona reciprocal rules that apply on the river.
Daily bag limit
See the 2026 Freshwater Sport Fishing Guide Colorado River / district tables for trout and other species bags.
Minimum size
See the freshwater guide for this district.
Gear restrictions
See the freshwater guide for this district (methods, bait, and boundary rules).
Identification
Throughout their native and introduced ranges, cutthroat trout vary widely in size, coloration and habitat selection. Their coloration can range from golden to gray to green on the back. Cutthroat trout can generally be distinguished from rainbow trout by the presence of basibranchial teeth at the base of tongue and a maxillary that extends beyond the posterior edge of the eye. Depending on subspecies, strain and habitat, most have distinctive red, pink, or orange linear marks along the underside of their mandibles in the lower folds of the gill plates. These markings are responsible for the common name cutthroat, first given to the trout by outdoor writer Charles Hallock in an 1884 article in The American Angler.