busybeaver
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sockeye
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Reged: 03/31/01
Posts: 91
Loc: Western Washington
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In my younger days I spent a lot of time in search of the searun cutties in fresh and saltwater. Anybody out chasing them these days in the salt? I caught a 23 incher last fall river fishing for silvers...  Got a 18 out of the same system...land of the big cutties  Released both of them after measuring them on my rod.
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Marty
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salmonoid
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steelie
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Reged: 01/25/01
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Loc: hoquiam,wa
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marty, having never caught a sea-run (that i know of) how can you tell the difference between them and regular cutts. i caught lots of cutthroat this winter while steelhead fishing. i caught one nice hen in november while fishing silvers. she was full of ripe eggs. was this possibly a sea-run? i thought they spawned in the summer. with the upcoming rivers opener i am looking forward to hooking up. i have a lead on a stream that supposedly gets 1 to 3 pounders in july. what's the largest sea-run you guys have ever caught? oh also, is a blueback the same thing as a sea-run cutt? a guy from naselle told me a blueback was a kokanee.
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busybeaver
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sockeye
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Loc: Western Washington
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Blue backs are sockeye. Land locked sockeye are Kokanee trout so blue back applies too. Searun cutties look the same as other cuthroat. If your fishing a stream that has a salmon or steelhead run you probably have a searun cuttie migration too. If youre in the saltwater and catch a cuttie...its a sea run  . I am not sure of the exact time of the cutty spawn. If it is anything like the other species it can really vary depending on location. My experiences have the cutties spawning in the spring.
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Marty
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lazydrifter
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dual red striper
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Loc: Port Angeles, Wa
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My kids had their 1st experience with sea run cutts last fall. The new estuary across from Jackpot west in P.A. The creek on a high tide in September saw them catching up to 25 to 30 in an afternoon of fishing. They ran up to about 18 inches. Unbelievable fighters on an ultralight with 4# leader. I always thought they came into the rivers in the fall to spawn. I heard the Sol Duc gets good in the fall.
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busybeaver
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sockeye
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Reged: 03/31/01
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Loc: Western Washington
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Lazy what was the chosen pattern? Thats some pretty good fishing for them.
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Marty
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lazydrifter
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dual red striper
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Loc: Port Angeles, Wa
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They caught some on spinners, but as much as I hate to admit it, the hot ticket was a crawler under a bobber. Only about an 18 inch leader fished in 2 - 4 ft. of water. They found that if they held the rod and set quickly they could hook most of the fish in the mouth.
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potter
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olympic mud minnow
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Loc: Quinault Reservation
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I have seen cutts spawning in May on the Quinault tribs. I'm not sure if they were sea-run or native. I think natives have a little more yellow color (especially males) then the sea-run which tend to be brighter. The orange "slashes" on the underside of the head are sometimes not very visible on sea-runs but not always. It's easy to mix up juvenile steelhead and cutts. The cutts have a longer maxillary which will extend past the mid eye. Also, if you put you little finger in the mouth you can feel the small teeth on the back of the tounge on cutts which are absent on steelhead.Cutts may have two spawning times; one for native and one for sea-run? Kinda like summer-run steelhead and winter-run steelhead. Something that I wonder about is meat color. Some cutts have white or pale meat while some have orange meat. Is it diet? I've been told that in Chinook it is not diet but genetic difference that determines meat color. Does this also hold true for cutts? [ 06-03-2001: Message edited by: potter ]
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busybeaver
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sockeye
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Loc: Western Washington
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I think meat color has a lot to do with diet. On cuts we catch in the lake they are a white meat. The searuns tend to be pink meated....just a observation. In the lake we catch the kokanee and they are a pink meat...I really don't have a clue on this one. 
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Marty
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Humpy
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egg
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Loc: Everett, Wa. U.S.A.
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Howdy,
Sea-run Cutthroat are spring spawners and I'm sure resident Cutt's are as well. I walk a lot of river miles and like to search for redds (nests) This spring I've been finding many Trout redds along with the Steelhead redds. There is no mistaking the two as the Cutthroat's nest's are much smaller (personal pan pizza sized as opposed to extra large family size) The best reason to identify spawning beds is so you can avoid stepping in them and possibly damaging the fragile eggs.A tailout with signs of spawning is a good clue that the deeper water upstream may be holding fish during the day. The beauty of Sea-run Cutthroat is that they will enter rivers on feeding runs when enough forage is available. Like when Salmon runs are going on(to feed on eggs), the rule of thumb where I'm from is when the ants start flying it's time to think river Sea-runs.
As far as identifying a resident fish from it's sea going cousin you can bet a shiny chrome fish just got back from saltwater. But a real good trick for distinguishing fish starting to get spawning colors is to check the pectoral and ventral fins, resident Cutts will have bright orange/red ones, while the Sea-runs will be yellow. We've been having fun between Everett/Mukilteo shorelines as is usually the case since C&R regs went into effect for Saltwater Trout. Kudos to the Game dept.
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Dr Pepper
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dual red striper
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Loc: Snoqualmie Pass, WA
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Fish diet determines the meat color. I don't recall all the different meat colors and what causes them, but this is as much as I know off the top of my head. Shrimp and other crustaceans cause pink colored meat. I believe the white meat of a certain run of chinook is due to them being piscivores (fish eaters). ~ Dr Pepper
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Team Kodiak
Team Kokanee (the beer and the fish)
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willierower
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dual red striper
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Reged: 04/11/01
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Loc: Albany OR
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Sea run cutts are neat little fish, My largest is 26 inches. It was caught on a small stream on the south coast of Oregon. I hvent had the chance to chase em in saltwater yet. When I was younger and lived on the south coast we would fish for them in tidewate. Night crawlers, crawdad tails and sucker or sculptin meat worked great. When we fished for them in the rivers above tidewater we used spinners, crawlers and crawdad tails.
There are many different name for sea run cutthroats. Down south they call them bluebacks some guys call them Harvest trout. I think its just a regional thing.
Almost all searuns have pink meat. Some resident trout have pink meat if there are scuds available for them to feed on. The pink/orange color comes from eating crustaceans. The pigment comes from the shells of shrimp. Some fish lack a gene that allows the pigment to be processed. Thats why you sometimes catch a white meated chinook. I was told if a salmon feeds heavily on fish the meat maybe paler than a salmn that eats a lot of shrimp.
As for the best times to fish searun cutties. Late june all the way through December have always been good. I catch a lot of cutties in the while fishing for salmon. Tossing egg patterns behind spawning salmon can get you into lots of them.
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Dutchman
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chum
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Reged: 11/03/00
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Loc: Tacona, washington,
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I always thought Searun spawned in the fall and that is why their nickname (harvest trout)Anyone out there know for sure?
Rick
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Plunker
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Chromer
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Reged: 04/01/00
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Loc: Skagit Valley, WA
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Dutch - The're called "harvest trout" because they run (come in from the salt) in the late summer and early fall but they don't spawn till late winter and early spring much like their cousins the steelhead.
On the other hand the Pacific salmon and char spawn in the fall and early winter.
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Why are wild fish made of meat?
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Rocket Red
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Vegetarian Cannibal
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Reged: 01/15/02
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Loc: Naked Barbieville
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Marty, I chase sea-runs in the salt semi- frequently. They are a strange fish, some of them will be spawning this time of the year while there are still others that remain out in the salt this time of the year. I fish them in Hood Canal. There are quite a few big ones out in the canal right now. I don’t know why they don’t go up and spawn, but they are definitely fishable right now.
I use 2 patterns. Sculpin flies and candlefish flies. I like to fish over oyster beds near drop-offs. I never fish deeper water than about 10 feet. The canal is very clear and some days you can see the cutties if you look very carefully.
My favorite time of the year is July on the canal. During that time you can cast to schools of cutthroats or cohos. . . equally good sport fish on 5 or 6 weight rods. The cohos are especially visible in the clear water. They are really fun to sight fish, if it is warm enough you feel like your fishing the flats at Ascension Bay.
Our favorite way to fish them is to prowl the oyster beds, with an electric trolling motor. Cast to the shore and retrieve back out to the boat. It is kind of like bass fishing as we like structure. Big rocks and stumps hold some fish.
Did you know that Sea-runs will take dry flies in the salt? I’ve only ever had one rise and it was a refusal rise, but the fish did come up. Steve Raymond’s book “The Year of the Trout” is what inspired me to try. I’ve only tried it twice so I guess one rise is pretty good. If you haven’t read the book it is a decent primer to try different types of fly fishing in our area.
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"Painter of light, my a$$!"
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Dr Pepper
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dual red striper
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Reged: 03/25/01
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Loc: Snoqualmie Pass, WA
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Rocket Red there is one guy at the local flyshop that wanted #6 Adams tied for him just for cutties in the saltwater. Apparently he got them to rise too, but I've never tried it. I've had luck using candlefish patterns and yellow #6-#8 Knudson's Spider's. In the freshwater yellow Knudson's spiders work, but my favorite is a #6-#8 Spruce fly.
~ Dr Pepper
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Team Kodiak
Team Kokanee (the beer and the fish)
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Rocket Red
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Vegetarian Cannibal
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Reged: 01/15/02
Posts: 1137
Loc: Naked Barbieville
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The dry fly I used was a #10 bomber style. Shaped more like a pill with no white wing or tail. I just used natural deer hair and brown stiff hackle. I figured that skittering the fly would look something like an injured baitfish on the surface. But, like I said it didn’t really work that well. Just the one rise.
I like Knudsen’s spider in estuaries as well. The Spruce fly seems like a really good all around fly. I have found that sea-runs like it and brook trout love it. I don’t know why. I love looking at a fly-box full of traditional sea-run flies. The flies are gorgeous. Small Purple Perils, Skykomish Sunrises, Thors, Partridge and orange, and all the pretty old-style wet flies.
I am lucky enough to have a large patch of Polar Bear fur that was given to me by an Eskimo at Lake Iliamna. I had made a bunch of sea-run flies and kept them in a tattered Wheatley that my great Uncle had given me with his name engraved on the front. Unfortunately, the box fell out of my hand when I was cruising across the canal with a buddy. It sunk. I can’t believe I was that attached to a fly box, but it bothers me still to this day.
![[Frown]](images/icons/frown.gif)
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"Painter of light, my a$$!"
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Dr Pepper
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dual red striper
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Loc: Snoqualmie Pass, WA
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Rocket if you ever go to Canada make sure you pick up some polar bear hair. I got some last time I went to Victoria so I've got a little stash of it. I don't know if it is legal to take polar bear across the border, but if you don't get caught who cares.
It's funny how some of us become so attached to fishing gear. I've got a couple of 2 weights and those are the rods I know I will have forever and would never sell. Most of my gear rods don't mean that much to me; well I like my 1025 GL3 a lot. My grandpa gave me a fly box with some flies. I never take that box out with me. Part of the reason is I don't want to lose it and the other part is because the box doesn't hold flies very well.
~ Dr Pepper
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Team Kodiak
Team Kokanee (the beer and the fish)
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