sea run cutt questions

Kerry and Saltchuck,

Thanks for your replys. Being a lifetime westsider it is hard for me to understand why I have not gone after src's. It sounds like its one of the afficianados preferred piscatorial pursuits.

I was talking to my neighbor here in B'ham and he seems to think the oldtimers really overfished them in the Nooksack. Says they used to be in there in good numbers and size but he does not think that is currently the case.

I will have to make a point of finding out later this summer. Since there is basically no summer steelie run here I will wait until later and target them alone prior to silvers.

Seems like it would be a good thing if they were turned into a catch and release fish everywhere.

Mark

I can not say this with absolute certainty but I do think that one reason they allow some harvest of Cutthroat Trout in the rivers is because some of them have a life history of being "resident", or nearly so, to the river, and even limiting themselves to some parts of the river, ie; upper, lower, certain tributaries, or even lower river and estuary. And only some of the river's Cutthroat Trout would then be considered to be truly "sea-run". But this bothers me that they allow any harvest of them at all since it is likely that any Cutthroat Trout would be recruitable as spawners with the "sea-run" cutts.

I have caught them with the same flies in salt and fresh water though I prefer dry flies in the rivers, I do catch them on drys off the beaches too. Flies like the Humpy, Stimulator, various Gurglers and Wakers, Foam Backs, and a myriad of small baitfish patterns all have been fruitful. Some days they like them dead drifted and other days you can't twitch them enough. My biggest sea run Cutts have all come on big, dark, weighted flies hung low and and slow off a long leader and dry line or a weighted sinker tip. I prefer a dry line. But I would probably catch more fish with a intermediate line, maybe clear. Or a sink tip.

Some of my better days of saltwater fishing for them have been from october through the winter. This year I had some great fish in march. It is a slower game, fewer fish, but they tend to be bigger and a little nastier too.

I've been fishing for coastal cutthroat for more than fifty years and have caught them throughout Puget Sound, Hood Canal, the Columbia River, north to Southeast Alaska and south to the Eel River in California. Coastal cutthroat along the Pacific are found in upper watershed creeks, lakes and rivers. In rivers that are open to the marine environment most of the coastal cutthroat are anadromous or "sea-run". They are all coastal cutthroat however.
We fought to make the cutthroat "catch-and-release" in all Washington marine waters in 1997. This was to protect weaker stocks when they mix in the marine environment.
I have an all new comprehensive book on coastal cutthroat due out in the fall. After 28 years my first book has gone out of print. You can, however still borrow it from the public library and most fishing club libraries. It is an easy read that should clear up most of the questions here.

Les Johnson

Les,
Looking forward to your new book. I really lucked out
last November when I purchased what turned out to be the last copy the shop I go to had. It is very informative, and I really like the color plates of cutthroat patterns.
I live between Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, and just started fly fishing last fall and learning about these little dynamos. No kidding, your book was an inspiration!
I had only fished for them in the late 50's and the 60's as a kid with colorado spinners and worms, mainly around Sequim. And in recent years as incidental (released) catch while bait/gear fishing for steelhead.
I kept one 16" out of the xxxx River last fall(where its legal to do so), but after reading about them in your book(and other authors, as well as posts by members of this site), my awareness was raised and I haven't kept one since.
It may be early, but I hope to head up the zzzz River for a looksee this afternoon, after finishing up some critical work I can't weasle my way out of. I've had good luck with a Knudsen Spider with a red tail and the Hari Kari locally.
Thanks for the writings! You can rack up one future sale of your new book right here...can hardly wait!:thumb

(river names x-d out to reduce potential increase in fishing pressure).

Jimbo

here on the kitsap penninsula there are no big rivers just small creeks where alot of srcs spawn, every creek with a lake attached with a inlet creek has them I can name a bunch if I wanted to. and in lakes there is a five fish a day limit, go to long lake store if you ever drive off the fauntleroy ferry and take a look at all the trout photos in the store it will make you cringe.

I think that a src release in freshwater lakes around would be way to confusing and alot of crackers troll pop gear and they would never release them anyway. but it would be a good idea to do something on a few lakes where they are abundant, wdf dont stock lakes with a healthy population of cutthroat to much I noticed, maybe a few hundred in late summer.



saltwater flyfishing in the northwest is a science as well as an art

searun or Mr. Les Johnson is a modest man. He says he has written only the one book. The title of that book should you be so fortunate as to find it is Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout 1971 updated in 79 as Sea-Run.

The Bellingham Library did not have either one but it did come up with another book he co-authored with Bruce Ferguson and Pat Trotter titled Fly Fishing for Pacific Salmon 1985.

This in itself is an amazing book. Just getting into it, but I highly recommend it for anyone who wishes to cut years off their saltwater fly fishing education/experience.

searun and his co-authors discuss the history of flyfishing for salmon, life histories of our salmon species, a dissertation on feed (excellent), finding the fish, techniques, patterns, gear and on and on including ethics.

I can't wait to find his works on sea-run cutts.

Thank you Les for coming on to this forum.

Mark