Fishing Forum

[font "Times New Roman"][/font]To most people in the world, a fish is just a fish. Some people are able to categorize fish with statements like, "That's a bass," or "That's a trout." An even smaller number of people, usually avid fishermen, are able to further identify trout from other trout species.

But it's not always an easy task to correctly identify some of the trout we catch. One case in point is the Cutthroat trout, or worse yet, the Cuttbow, a Rainbow X Cutthroat hybrid. It was this question that lead me to do a little investigation.

Why even care if a fish is a Cutt or a rainbow, or a splake or a brookie? Because each trout species and strain is a unique gem in Utah's aquatic ecosystem. Each of them have their own set of different qualities, habits, and specific beauties. Also, in many waters there are different regulations in place on what fish you can or can't keep. The DWR is restoring the native Bonneville Cutthroat in many places all over the state and these populations need to be protected and studied. Because alot of people and even some of their officers can't tell the difference, the DWR often err on the side of caution and just say, "release all fish with Cutthroat markings", thereby establishing a rule even for those cases where there's an element of doubt.

When I first started fishing heavily at age 13, only ten years ago, I caught a bunch of Brown trout in Calf Creek in Escalante and thought they were Brookies. I went home and found out that while Brookies and Browns both have square tails (hybrids of these two fish are called Tiger trout and are now very popular), Brookies have spots on a much darker body color. I began to learn alot about the different trout since then, but one type has still managed to confuse me - The Cuttbow!

I can tell most Cutthroats from a Rainbow instantly. This has never bothered me. The color, pattern, fin tips, and in some waters even the shape is different. Alot of times there's a red slash on a Cutt, but not always. Take for instance the Bear Lake Cutthroat, in which the red slash is absent. And there are even some Rainbows that have Cutthroat-like markings (which lots of people think is a Cutt or may actually be a Cuttbow).

True, there will always be those cases where a fish needs be identified by a biologist, but those are few and far between. With a little more education and effort on our part we can do a better job.

One more thing: Splake (lake trout x brook trout hybrids) have forked tails! Brookies have square tails!

Here are a few very helpful links that will help:


[url "http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/Fish/Newsletters/Cody/CY_Newsletter_2008.pdf"]http://gf.state.wy.us/..._Newsletter_2008.pdf[/url] (Look at second page)

[url "http://www.coloradotrouthunters.com/troutidentification.html"]http://www.coloradotrouthunters.com/...tidentification.html[/url]

[url "http://www.utahfishinginfo.com/utahfish/cutthroattrout.php"]http://www.utahfishinginfo.com/...h/cutthroattrout.php[/url]
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Cuttbows in certain bodies of water are really hard to differentiate from rainbows. Most of the pictures I have of cuttbows are either on Polaroid (long time ago) or regular film, but here are some links with pictures of cuttbows and a video (all of the fish in the video are cuttbows).

http://www.fishsniffer.com/dbacher/070416amador.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRClB4RlwNE

To me they look a lot like rainbows on this body of water. You couldn't look at those pictures and say oh yeah that's a cuttbow. On other bodies of water they may have features suggestive of cutthroat, but not on Lake Amador in California.
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I've fished Amador a few times. Its good on some days but mostly not all its cracked up to be. It cost you your left arm everytime you fish it. Somewhere around $25 for two of you with a boat just for the privledge of launching and fishing on the private lake. I catch more fish at strawberry and it only cost me $5.00 and my season fishing licence. Anyway, sorry to digress, back to the regularly scheduled cutthroat discussion.
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I use to love going to Amador at night where I would catch crappie as big as my Plano tackle storage box and some big cuttbows. It was much cheaper back then and I would be hard pressed to venture to the lake again. My biggest crappies came out of that lake and there were some huge ones.
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I know I am going to get bashed for it but I have added some photos of Rainbows, Cutthroats, Cuttbows, and a Lake run Brown trout I have caught over the years. I am sure I will hear there are no Cuttbows in Strawberry but even the DWR admits not all Rainbows planted are 100% sterile up there and a few do manage to cross breed with the Cutts. Yes for those that are not experienced in proper fish identification I can see how it could be difficult to identify. Although if you know what you are looking for it can be done. Check out the photos and see if you can notice the differences in the photos that I have labeled. Some of these photos are of years back when there was no slot at Strawberry so please no mention I was keeping illegal fish [] Hope this is informative and helpful.
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Nice fish.

2nd to last pic... koke????? [crazy]
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I may be wrong on the Koke it was years ago. But notice the lack of spots and the spotting on the tail only goes half way down the tail unlike the bear lake cutts. I also ate that guy and the flesh was different from a cutt from strawberry. It is actually the only Koke I have ever caught if in fact I am right but I could be wrong? Either way my point was trying to show differences and how fish could be hard to identify for the novice. Such as even a brown could be taken as a cutt if you dont know what your looking at[]
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[cool][#0000ff]Virtually impossible to post a set of pictures or a list of guidelines for easy identification. Many strains of cutts and many strains of rainbows, and each cross will produce a different looking fish. The appearance will also be affected by water depth, water clarity, water "chemistry", food resources and other factors. Even a purebred single species fish will look different in different habitats. Look at the difference between colorful stream browns and the silvery browns of many deepwater lakes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Then, when you get back and forth crossbreeding with hybrids and purebreds you further dilute one strain and increase the other. Still more difference in appearance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think the average angler needs a lot more BASIC education in fishyology before taking on the advanced species recognition process for various hybrids. A high percentage of Utah anglers have trouble telling the difference between pure rainbows and pure cutts...or even between rainbows and browns when the fish are caught from a lake and both have silvery coloration.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have lost count of the times I have heard people call streamcaught brown trout "brookies"...just because they have red spots.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]To me, the greatest travesty is that DWR officers have cited so many guys for having slot cutts when the fish were clearly rainbows. I am glad they finally removed the "cutt like markings" designation from the proclamation. But, there are still disputes. Unbelievable.[/#0000ff]
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I agree the one group of people that should be able to tell the difference is a DWR officer of all people!!! Their are many strains of Cutts and as an example a Bear lake Cutt from Strawberry looks very different from a Bear Lake Cutt from Bear lake but exactly the same fish. Rainbows can also look different depending on the lake or rive r they reside in. The one topic that always seems to come up is Strawberry. The cutts have a very identifiable appearance as do the rainbows from that body of water. I know TubeDude you strongly disagree of Cuttbows in Strawberry but I used to fish it 3 times a week and very rarely one does show up. But thats my opinion of course and I have no DNA lab to prove it[] When we are talking one body of water you are very familiar with an experienced fisherman can tell the slight differences. Its very rare but I know for a fact I have landed 3 Cuttbows from Strawberry which is a very, very small percentage considering the thousands of fish I have caught from there. It just seems to me they should plant tiger trout or brook trout instead of rainbows and just abolish the misidentification. Or through some sterile albino rainbows in there which could never be mistaken for a Cutt. Or make it a trophy lake with one size limit. Just seems there are many simple solutions up there but no action is taken and people are getting cited or just being ignorant. Heck there are even a very small amount of browns in strawberry and if they spend there life in the lake most there life they could be misidentified as a Cutt by a DWR officer and somebody gets a ticket. Its all kind of frustrating.
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By the way Ktrout was that your pics I saw on Roughin it Outdoors? If so congrats. That's one giant salmon.

I think this is a good discussion for all of us to have. Like I said this Cuttbow thing is pretty confusing.

The additional pics posted by other members here in this thread have been really good.
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This is a direct quote from the book "Trout and Salmon from North America" written by Robert Behnke, who is considered among the most authoratative experts of trout in the world. (Pg.139)

"However, because of the great range of diversity found in both cutthroat trout and rainbow trout, no single character except MOLECULAR GENETIC MARKERS can positively distinguish ALL cutthroat trout from ALL rainbow trout." (caps added)

If he can't absolutely tell without genetic testing, I doubt any of us can either. This would absolutely also apply to cuttbow hybrids too.

Two characteristics he lists as good ways to tell the difference between the two species is to count the number of scales along the side of the body (cutthroat have more) and the presence of basibranchial teeth, minute teeth at the base of the throat between the gill arches. (cutts have them, bows usually do not). Neither of these methods will work particularly well in the 15-30 seconds we would have as we prepare to release a given fish, or possibly decide to keep it.

That leaves us with the basics that work for most of the fish most of the time.
1. Cutts have orange fins, bows usually shades of pink or other shades but not orange.
2. Bows and hybrids are heavily spotted on their heads. Cutts have no spots or very tiny, minute specks on their heads.
3. General body shape and color patterns. Once you catch a number of each species this actually becomes easier to tell than looking at obscure details.


Finally, there will always be that individual fish that looks a bit different. Sure it could be a cuttbow, but it could also be a different looking "pure"cutt or bow too. Except in areas where Fish and Game departments are deliberately planting cuttbows of their making as part of a management plan. (like Henrys Lake) unless you are ready with your genetic testing, you'd be on shaky ground saying with absolute certainty that a given fish is a cuttbow.
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[quote RyanCreek]By the way Ktrout was that your pics I saw on Roughin it Outdoors? If so congrats. That's one giant salmon. .[/quote]

Yeah thanks that was me. My jumping bear also got on for a brief glimpse.
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