Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]MGB posted a report that included a pic of a nice rainbow...released because it had some orange on its chin. There was some debate about whether it was a cuttbow or not. I sent a request for clarification to DWR, attention Drew Cushing. He has not had time to respond on the thread, but I did get an email response from Alan Ward, the Project Leader for UDWR. I hope he doesn't mind if I copy and paste his email. I think it will help answer some of the questions we have all had:[/#0000ff]
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I do not know if you have heard from Drew Cushing yet about your Strawberry "cuttbow" question, but I saw that the issue was raised, and
thought I would make a quick response.

"Cuttbows" can be found in Strawberry, though it is relatively rare. We have only seen two that appeared to be classic first generation crosses of a cutthroat and rainbow since the 1990 treatment. The sterilization process has been between 96% and 100% effective in the past. This does leave some room for error. However, many of the
rainbows would be fall spawners, further minimizing the potential for inter-breeding. In our cutthroat spawner trapping efforts in the last 6
years we have captured only one rainbow that appeared to be a viable male. So crosses could happen, but it is not common by any means.

As far as the classic "cutthroat" markings under the jaw, I wish people would not use them as an indicator. I have used our brochures and various public contacts to try and educate people not to rely on the orange slashes under the jaw. Not only do the rainbows often have these markings under their jaw, but the cutthroat often do not have them (particularly in a reservoir or lake environment). Spotting patterns, pink stripe down the side on rainbows, shape of head, and the prevalent orange pelvic and anal fins on the cutthroat are far better characters.

The fish in the picture on BigFishTackle.com [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17577;"][#333366] Copy of July 29 2006 001.jpg [/#333366][/url](128 KB) [/size][/black][/font]appears to me to be a classic rainbow, and though I cannot speak for the law enforcement officers, it is extremely unlikely that anyone would be ticketed for that fish. Of course, it is impossible to tell from the picture alone that it does not have any cutthroat genes in it, so I will not dispute
that it could. However, our officer at the reservoir does not look just for slashes under the jaw, and I am confident that he too would have identified that fish as a rainbow (in fact I will run it past him as well).

Unfortunately, as I have probably mentioned to you before, I cannot respond to all of the issues and questions brought up on the chat lines
directly. However, if you, or any other angler, has specific questions about Strawberry don't hesitate to contact me.

Hope this helps. Take care

Alan Ward
Strawberry Project Leader
UDWR
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Interestingly, in the Utah Fishing Proclamation under the drawing of the Bear Lake Cuttroat is written, "... cutthroats are best distinguished by their crimson slash along the lower jaw..." Under the drawing of the Bonneville Cutthroat is found, "They, particularly the Bear Lake cuttthroat strain, often lack the bright crimson jaw slash that, at times, may be yellow or gray. The deep orange pelvic and anal fins readily distinguish Bear Lake cutthroat from rainbow trout." Strange that they give all of this additional information on how to distinguish a Bear Lake Cutthroat under the drawing of the Bonneville Cutthroat, and under the drawing of the Bear Lake Cutthroat instruct anglers to look for the crimson slash along the lower jaw! And finally, to make it perfectly clear, under the Provisions for Specific Waters for Strawberry is found: "Any trout with cutthroat markings is considered to be a cutthroat trout." I know that I have had anglers fishing with me who wanted to keep a fish to eat, and I have instructed them to release trout that looked like they were about 95% rainbow, but they had a slash under their jaw. Unless clear information is provided I am not willing to risk getting fined for keeping a fish with cutthroat markings.
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Well said Kent! I have been in 2 situations on rivers where this came up and ultimately we let all ?able fish back into the water. This is like the tiger nusky out of Fish lake a week ago. Technically he broke the law because genereal rules applied. I guess it is up to the officer to decide what happens.[cool]
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Kents reply is the way it is when an officer is checking the fish in possesion. It all comes down to what the officers opinon of a rainbow is. When the proclamation clearly calls out the orange slashes on a fish and relates it to a cuttthroat a fisherman will always be at the mercy of the officer. I believe the fish in the picture is a rainbow not only by its colors and markings but the way it acted when being reeled in. But how can you argue with the officer when he has the proclamation to back him up. When Alan Ward says "he has tried to educate people not to rely on the slashes" I interpret it as if the fish has slashes it is a cutt or if it does not have slashes it still could be a cutt.

Thanks for looking into this further TubeDude. I have only caught a couple of these in the past years and FishingPro caught two last Saturday, I have always wondered what it would be considered. Keep us informed with any updates.
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Thanks for the Sherlock Holmes action there Pat. Now all we need to do is get you an overcoat and a pipe!

I too agree, that I'd rather not take the chance, as I don't think many bows are worth the $100 fine. Of course a 20 lb fish would be mighty tempting.
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You are very right.
Three years ago, I had my grandson with me at Strawberry. He caught a fish that I knew for sure was a Rainbow. We put it on the stringer and went back to fishing.
Pretty quick a boat came over to the shore and a Fish Cop jumped out to check the fish. They were watching us with binoculars.
The guy that checked the fish told me he thought it was a cutt, I told him I thought it was a rainbow, I showed him all the rainbow markings and he agreed it was a rainbow.
BUT, there was an older gentleman in the boat, and the fish was shown to him. He told me right away it was a cutt. He also said the same thing about if it has any cutt markings, it is considered a cutt.
So even the different wardens can't tell the difference some times.
Bottom line for us was, the fish was only 13" so we were OK either way. They did give me a brochure that has helped be a great deal to identify the fish.
It scared me so bad that, if there is any question at all, it goes back.
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