River Cutthroat are right there. Certainly more beautiful. All three are special to me. Lahontan Cutthroat are one of my favorites as well...no realistic way to catch 20 pound trout on a fly outside of the Lahontan. But generally, I find myself becoming a native species guy. Cutthorat are generically my favorite, and Tigers are probably the best sport fish among all trout species due to their rapid growth rates.

The most excited I've ever been to catch a fish are probably in this order:

9" Golden trout from the Uintahs BEFORE the state starting stocking them a few years ago. A holdover from stocking efforts in the 70s. Biologists hadn't had many confirmed catches at the time and I don't believe they were crtain of the Goldens continued existence in this area. So to land one after planning my trip and selectively targeting them was huge for me.

32" 17.5 pound Lahontan Cutthroat on a size 14 beadhead chironamid. What a thrill that was. I'd been pursuing trophy Lanhontans for many years. I'd caught a lot of nice fish, even up to 25 or 2" and 6 or 7 pounds, but no monsters. As I was packing up on my last day of the trip, I got a hit mid day and ended up landing this monster. Fish of a lifetime.

6" Apache Trout from a tiny, very secret and protected stream that required a pretty difficult hike to access. That was a thrill.

I hope to someday land every North American subspecies of trout and char. The Gila Trout is high on my list.