Rogue river gold....cutthroat

[jbird]

I caught this beauty today and just had to show youall. I dont think I could say enough words to describe how pretty he was.

J

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/jbird34/DSC05453.jpg

[bigtj]

Jbird,

I couldn't agree with you more. There is something really special about those fish. You can't capture it in a picture, either - you can come close but there is something about those fish in person that is hard to capture in a picture.

Too bad the cutts have had such a hard time over the past 30-40 years hopefully they'll rebound some day to past populations.

Thanks for the picture, congrats on a great catch.

[David Lee]

Rare animal , and strikingly beautiful !!

Great job !!

David :D

[Matt Frey]

That is one beautiful fish. Thanks for sharing. I hate sounding ignorant but what type of cutthroat is that? :?

[SteelieD]

WOW :shock: That is an amazing looking fish.

[jbird]

Matt

The rogue has a remnant of sea run cutts. The population was all but decimated quite a few years ago. There have been some studies conducted somewhat recently that suggest the current cutthroat population is a 'fluvial' ( I think thats the word??) migrater. Meaning they migrate in and out of tributaries of the main system. One study stated that scale samples collected above gold ray dam concluded that there is no longer a searun population. Theres argument to weather or not there are sea runs still migrating below the dam. I think the scientists are weighing in favor of the searun population has evolved...or de-volved to a fluvial population.

Nevertheless, they are rare enough to get excited about. I probably tangle with 2 to 4 of these nice sized cutts a year. Its always a treat when you think your into a steelhead and it turns out to be a big cutt.

Jay

[Hairstacker]

Man, that is a stunning-looking fish! Love those markings, you just don't see those very often - congratulations Jay!!

[PaulC]

Beautiful fish Jay! Do they have a tagging program to track salt migration if it still exists? Just curious.
-Paul

[jbird]

Paul

Not that I know of. The rogue cutts have really been swept under the rug. The salmon/steelhead show is what draws all the attention/$$. So thats where all the study funding is focused. We had a lengthy discussion on the topic on our southern oregon forum. Bubzilla (who sometimes posts here) has a knack for digging up recources on such topics. He posted some great links to studies on cutthroat in the rogue.
Maybe he'll see this and post something.

I think there are actually more cutthroat than meets the eye though. they dont dwell in the same type of water as the glamour fish do. Thats why they are rarely caught, IMHO. There is a place that Sculpin (Mark Sandlin) and I pass through to fish for steelhead. Its all frog water, and every once in a great while, theres big, heavy swirls happening in there. They are selectively surface feeding and they are definitly NOT steelhead. I'd bet dollars to donuts theyre big cutts. We often talk about chasing them but those dadgum steelhead keep clogging our brain.

Jay

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have wanted to catch just one Searun Cutthroat for some time now.

I have heard they are from our North Coast to Alaska.

I hear that anything over 20 inches is a trophy.

Sexy looking fish Jbird

[Darian]

Not sure if they still occupy the Smith River drainage but They used to run all the way up to Siskiyou Creek in the headwaters and all of the tributaries. 8) 8)

Most of the year, they entered the estuary to feed and return to the ocean on the tides....

Caught several on small silver bodied flies. A Stickleback imnitation was deadly. When hooked a coastal Cutthroat spends more time out of the water than in.... :D :D :D

[dtp916]

Yeaaaahhh, nice fishy!

Keep em coming with the pics :D

What did he eat?

[Adam Grace]

Nice Sea-Run Cutt! I caught my first sea-run on the Rogue about 4 years ago, I was very excited to catch something that rare. My cutt was not as large as the one in the picture but it was a gem to me. Nice fish!

[PaulC]

Hey Jay,
I was curious as the last trip to the Trinity I landed a brown in similar frog water that was tagged in Arcata. Thought if they're tracking browns down here, maybe something similar was in place up north. Would be an interesting study if someone could find funding for it.
Funny thing was, there was no reward on the brown trout tag like there usually is on a steelhead.
Wonder if that affects the fish's self confidence? :lol:

-Paul

[Hairstacker]

Paul, not to worry, the lack of reward does not affect the fish's self-confidence -- it only impacts his self-esteem. :lol:

[DocEsox]

Matt....another answer to your question about what type of cutthroat is it would be that it is a coastal cutthroat trout, subspecies oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii. There are 14 subspecies of cutthroat (2 extinct) and the coastal is the only cutt which is semi-anadramous.....moving into salt water to feed part of the year. But unlike steelhead or salmon the sea-run version only stays in salt water for 2 or 3 months of the year to feed and they don't generally travel far from their native stream/river. There are actually 4 populations of the coastal cutthroat: there is the sea-run form, a lake adapted form (lacustrine), as mentioned a fluvial form (moves into large rivers to feed but spawns up small tributaries) and a stream resident form which lives year round in small streams. Here is a picture I lifted off another site of the stream resident form (which is the most colorful) caught in Oregon:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/cutthroat.jpg

They are the only form of cutthroat that has a searun lifestyle. Here in Alaska they are frequently ignored but can be caught by the droves at certain times of the year. Largest I could find verified was a 12 lbs fish from a Washington Lake ......anything over 2 or 3 pounds is big.

Beautiful fish,

Brian

[Matt Frey]

Thanks Brian
That was the information that I was looking for. The spot that you caught the fish in the picture looks amazing.
Best regards
Matt

[Darian]

Tristan,.... From what I understand, Coastal Cutthroat were being stocked in Big and Stone Lagoons in Humboldt County as a part of an attempt to re-establish them in their original range. There's quite a bit of literature on it but I have no personal experience in that fishery... 8) Redwood creeck and the Lower Klamath tributary (Prairie Creek) was supposed to have a run of Cutthroat, too. 8)

As an aside, unfortunately many people I've known who have fished in either Stone or Big Lagoons had their vehicles vandalized and never returned to fish there.... :( :(

The Smith River drainage is so special even during times when Salmon and/or Steelhead are not running. There're River Otter, Deer and Bear, Grouse, Quail, etc. Down on the beaches and in the harbor at Crescent City there're clams, rockfishing, surf fishing and crabs, Pelicans and gulls..... Lotsa varieties of berries for pies, etc.... 8) 8)

What a great place.... :D :D :D