Arizona's Native Trout: The Gila and the Apache
The scarce and beautiful Apache and Gila trout have been subjects of intensive interest from the environmental and angling communites since their discovery and identification as unique subspecies of trout.
[click map to enlarge]
"...travel to the Arizona White Mountains... where Apache trout exist in their native waters. The area is lovely and this little trout is the crown jewel of these waters."
   -- Dave Whitlock, TROUT, Winter 2010
                             davewhitlock.com
Although Gila and Apache trout, along with Mexican golden trout, are closely related, they represent a long-isolated lineage of western North American trouts according to Robert Behnke  (Behnke, Robert J., Trout and Salmon of North America, New York, 2002., pages 123 - 129).

Despite long isolation, Apache trout are quite similar to rainbow, brown, and brook trout in terms of thermal tolerance and habitat preferences. Like the cutthroat and the rainbow, the Gila and Apache trout spawn in the spring. The Gila and Apache share more similarities with rainbow trout than with cutthroat trout.
Behnke notes that both the Gila and the Apache trout in their native steams are generally small fish (5"-9"), however specimens of Apache trout in lakes in the White Mountains of Arizona have been known to reach
5 lbs.

Trout Unlimited Arizona Council and local TU chapters in Arizona have been at the forefront of the effort to preserve these species of trout.  Arizona Game & Fish department  has a long-standing project to protect, preserve and restore Apache trout.
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The historic range of the Apache Trout is restricted
to just a few watersheds in east-central Arizona, while
the Gila Trout is found only in the tributaries of the
Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico.

copyright Dave Whitlock
History of the Gila and Apache Trout
For many years, it was known that a bright yellow species of trout inhabited the tiny streams in the high mountains of Arizona. Early settlers referred to them as "yellow trout." The Gila trout was identified earliest and given its original name, salmo gilae, in 1951. According to Trout Unlimited's Conservation Success website, the Apache trout was described as a separate species by Robert Miller of the University of Michigan in 1972, "when it was considered to be distinct from its closest taxonomic neighbor, the Gila trout." It was given the name salmo apache. New scientific names were given to the fish in 1989, when they became onchorynchus gilae gilae and onchorynchus gilae apache.
Arizona State Council of
TROUT UNLIMITED
Major Papers and Presentations
Arizona Native Trout Workshops
January 2010     April 2011     March 2012
Rotenone: Use in Native Trout Restoration Projects
Two important recent documents are available for download here:
- Summary of Trout Unlimited Policy
- Arizona Game and Fish Piscicide Manual
Apache Trout
Gila Trout