Beautiful sea-run cutthroat!

I've spent a dozen or so days out on the Wilson this summer, catching mostly 8-12 trout. They really are a blast -- they feel pretty big and mean on a little 4 weight fly rod. I've been using these reverse spider pattern flies that they just go nuts for! I've spent quite a bit of time in the lower, mid and upper river and so far have found the upper river to have the biggest fish... unexpectedly. Last week I was up around mile marker 23 and caught this 17in cutter -- couldn't have been happier!

nice fish

That thing is a beast Look at the head on that thing:shock:Great job:clap:

Well done. And a terrific first post.

Welcome to OFF!

I am sooooo jealous! Spent 25 hours this past month on Trask and Nestuka with only one...small little cutthroat, 8 inches! Good for you dude!

Thanks for sharing! That is a nice one!

That is a very nice cut!!!

nice fish bro! welcome to the forum!

beautiful fish!!!!

Beauty!

Just curious...how do you know that it's a searun cutt and not just a big resident cutt? I'm not saying that it isn't but I'm wondering how you can tell the difference? I've always wondered how to tell the two apart.

I love it, those fish are awesome.

Cheers guys!

Cheers guys!

Thanks for all the comments.. glad to be part of OFF! I'm actually not quite positive how to tell the difference between a sea -- run or just a large resident cutthroat, the guys down at the fly shop said for a fish that size it almost shirley was.. so I just went with that. I'd love to know if there was a definitive way to tell though.

To the good times!

Nice looking fish!

Sea run cutts, just like sea run rainbows, come back with more silvery or washed-out looking markings, slightly different back coloration. Once you've seen a few, it's easier to tell a SR fish from a resident fish, at least until that resident has spent a lot of time in fresh water and the color starts to return. Size can be an indicator also - at least on most streams. Resident Wilson cutts average 12" or less - a 17" fish is quite a hawg and probably did go to salt (but there are of course, resident pigs that just know how to avoid being caught or killed).

That fish' colors do look more silvery than a typical resident fish - it probably is a sea run.

awesome fish. those big cutts really pull on a 4wt. :clap:

n8r1 said:

Beauty!

Just curious...how do you know that it's a searun cutt and not just a big resident cutt? I'm not saying that it isn't but I'm wondering how you can tell the difference? I've always wondered how to tell the two apart.

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Not critical at all. In fact I think it would be a bigger accomplishment to catch a 17" river cutthroat than a sea run. That doesn't look silver enough to be a sea run. I grew up fishing sea run on the necanicum, and they looked more like a small silver salmon than a trout. Was the meat deep red? Sorry about the picture quality, but here is an old 13" searun cut. No visible spots and blue back, hence the name blueback.

Gorgeous Cutt!!! I took my boys to the wilson Monday night looking for cutts. We caught 15-20 small ones (smolts) but never did see anything bigger. Post a pic of that fly you were using, sounds interesting.