[Todash19]

A river in Clark county has been offering up cutthroat trout lately, and I wonder if anyone can ID them. Are they west slope?

Since I'm used to 6-10 inch rainbows, these guys really got my heart pumping.

I thought they may have been sea-run as I understand this river has a good sea-run cutthroat population, but my research shows they don't spawn until December - February.

First on a dry and the second on a nymph. Thanks in advance for replies.

 

[Bryce Levin]

Look like sea-runs to me.

 

[tinman207]

Look like sea-runs to me.

Me too

 

[wadin' boot]

looks like a searun or resident cutt to me. they will follow Salmon up and eat eggs and generally be awesome in rivers during September and October. westslopes often have way more red and gold. A lot of 6 inch fish are juvenile salmon in our west draining rivers, particularly close to salt or in an estuary. If it has parr marks best to leave alone...

 

[Jim Wallace]

looks like a searun or resident cutt to me. they will follow Salmon up and eat eggs and generally be awesome in rivers during September and October. westslopes often have way more red and gold. A lot of 6 inch fish are juvenile salmon in our west draining rivers, particularly close to salt or in an estuary. If it has parr marks best to leave alone...

Definitely Coastal Cutthroats, and nice ones. Nice pics. They could be searuns, although they look pretty chunky. Some of the searuns cutts in that size range that I encounter in my local waters are a bit leaner looking, and hard-bodied. But I see some fatties, too. Those could be searuns that have been eating well!

 

[Preston]

Coastal cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) and most likely the semi-anadromous form. The coastal cutthroat is heavily spotted from its back to well below the lateral line. At one time sea-run cutthroat were found as far up the Columbia River as the Klickitat. Upstream of that the westslope cutthroat (O. clarki lewisi) predominates. The westslope's spotting pattern differs distinctly from that of the coastal cutthroat and is usually a reliable means of identification.

Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi (westslope cutthroat)

Oncorhynchus clarki clarki (coastal cutthroat)

 

[Preston]

Sea-run cutthroat normally spawn in late winter/spring (In Washington, March is commonly the peak spawning month). In many streams with minimum summer flows of 70 cfs or more however, cutthroat will begin to return as early as mid-July and in increasing numbers through the late summer and fall. A distant analogy could be made to the summer-run steelhead which may enter freshwater months before spawning. Unlike the steelhead, however, the sea-run cutthroat will continue to feed actively during its sojourn into fresh water until near its spawning time in the spring.

 

[Todash19]

Thanks for for sharing your expertise. That info is going to be gold in the coming months, and I very much appreciate it.

 

[The T.O. Show]

Yeah the spots are a dead giveaway like Preston said. Westslopes are are very unique in that most of their spots are concentrated towards the back of their body and above the lateral line. Many westslopes also have bright red bellies and gill plates, very distinct. Your fish are coastal/sea-run cutts for sure. Here's an MT westslope for reference.

 

[Paul_]

Another coastal cutthroat (resident) from SW Washington-