Cuttbow

[Baileyboys]

Do we have these in scofeild Also had fish cop tell me the rainbow in scofeild were not able to reproduce in any? way just wondering
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[gaardvark]

I can't speak to the presence of cutbows in Scofield, but it is likely that there have been some. Several years ago the state stopped stocking fertile rainbows so they would not interbreed with native fish stocks. Now the rainbows they plant are called triploid, meaning they have an extra chromosome that prevents them from reproducing. It is an intentional mutation, so nothing to worry about. I understand they shock the developing fry with warmer water for a short period of time or something and that causes the mutation. Anyway, it causes these rainbows to be sterile, which in turn makes them put on weight more readily, and I have also heard they are more aggressive.

At the Kamas hatchery a number of years ago, they were explaining this to me, and you could see that quite a few of the young trout had bite marks because it was a very competitive environment in the hatchery raceways.
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[Baileyboys]

That was very useful thanks for the info it sure is nice to know how and what and why! Thanks again
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[wiperhunter2]

Do you have a Pic of the trout you are talking about? I'm not saying it does not happen in the wild but it is not likely at Scofield. Years ago when they had just opened Strawberry again after poisoning it and planting it with BL cutts, we fished it an caught several trout that we thought were bows. On closer examination we noticed there was a faint orange slash under the throat but other than that they look like bows. When we ask the DNR guy about it he said they were for sure cutts and some of the cutts will look like bows, so you have to be very careful when keeping bows out of lakes that have slot limits on cutts. They told us that any trout that has even a light orange slash is considered a cutt.
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[Kent]

There used to be a few officers issuing citations for what were likely rainbows. The 2011 Guidebook states:

"Any trout with cutthroat characteristics
(not necessarily jaw slashing) is considered
to be a cutthroat trout. Slash marks under
the jaw should not be used to distinguish
Bear Lake cutthroat trout from rainbow
trout at Strawberry. Slashing is sometimes
absent on Bear Lake cutthroats and
sometimes visible on rainbows. Better
characteristics are deep orange pelvic and
anal fins on the cutthroats, and white tipped
pink to gray-green pelvic and anal
fins on the rainbows. Rainbows also have
the pinkish lateral stripe on the sides... "
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[wiperhunter2]

Yes, they did make that change in IDing cutts and bows in the fishing guide but for the uneducated eye it can be, at times, hard to tell the difference. Thanks for adding that description from the guide book Kent.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Still lots of folks with "uneducated" (stupid) eyes keeping cutts under the slot at Strawberry. When challenged they say..."They look like rainbows to me." Too bad the DWR officers can't spend more time there.[/#0000ff]
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[Baileyboys]

It would be awesome if the officers spent enough time to talk and help fisherman out because the fish we were catching at scofeild looked like rainbow with the orange slash making it a cutt. We cought a fish while being checked by the offficers and I said so is this rainbow a cuttbow? they said we CALL it a cutt. So I feel like they just didn't wanna call it a cuttbow. [sly]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You point out another problem. Not all DWR field personnel are completely knowledgeable enough to make positive identification either. I have firsthand knowledge of some blatant misindentifications. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It sounds like your experience was one of those. I have caught grundles of PURE STRAIN rainbows in various parts of the country that had orange slashes under the jaws. They were sometimes in areas that had never seen any species of cutthroat and were definitely 100% pure rainbow. Yet, by the simple (wrong) standards of some DWR field people they had cutt characteristics and could not have been kept in some Utah waters.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Before the change in the wording of the proclamation...to exclude all fish with cutt slashes being considered cutts...there were a number of citations issued to anglers who kept fish that were clearly rainbows...with no cutthroat in them at all. But because there were the little orange tinges under the jaw they got socked with fines and confiscations. Sadly, the officers involved did not know the differences themselves. That is WRONG.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Most Utah anglers want to do the right thing, both to avoid citations and to be able to keep some fish for the table. But ly the identification of fish species by simple color patterns alone is beyond a lot of our Utah fishermen. Simply because it is not simple. There are often color variations in the same species of fish from the same waters that can complicate easy identification. And of course the colors change according to water chemistry, light conditions and seasons...like during spawning.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is our responsibility to study the various sources of fish ID photos and to learn the absolute determining factors. But it is always better to be safe than sorry so if there is a problem with positive ID you are better off to release the fish. Before you do, however, you should get some good closeup pictures to show others so that you can get outside input to help you with future situations. Making an identification based strictly on a verbal description is impossible. [/#0000ff]
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