They seem about a week late here but I finally found a small school of fish and got one to hit my conehead squid. I didn't have time to look for another because I was inbetween classes. This one will probably seem small to you sound/canal guys, but the fish here are always immature in June, by Aug this guy will be pushing 20in.

Nice fish.

i doubt that that fish will be pushing 20 but the fish coming into the estuaries will be. I am going to have to get out there and give those PA beaches a shot

Ive always wanted to fish the PA beaches but never got the chance.

You'd be suprised most likely he will be in the 12-15 inch range, but i watch these fish grow as i catch them as they never leave this same estuary, they grow fast

they grow fast no doubt, but a 20 sea-run is an old fish. That fish right there is not very old.

Ive heard an 18 - 29inch cutty is in the range of 15years old but not sure if its true, is there a certain size you can tell the age by?

i would highly doubt that they make it past about 5 or 6 years.

Picked off one two nights ago and another today i also saw quite a few rolling and something huge rolled off the shore aways. Don't know what it was that jumped but it sounded like what a 20lb salmon sounds like when it gets airborne. I have never caught any adult salmon at this spot, but my buddies claim they saw one when they climbed out on the logbooms nearby. It sure would be cool to hit a nice salmon on the 4 weight! I don't even know what would happen. Most likely alot of line screeching off the reel and then something breaking. D3 if you ever head over this way let me know, i'll show you the ropes around here.

that'd be awesome. same for you if you make it back over here. it will only get better as the summer progresses.

I'm definately planning on heading that way, it's the same here, only gets better as the summer comes and goes.

Typically, sea-run cutthroat first enter salt water in the spring at an age of two years and a length of 6 to 8 inches. In the late summer and fall they return to fresh water for the first time at a length of 10-12 inches (many will not spawn on their first return). Every year thereafter they repeat the cycle; spending the late spring and summer in salt water and returning to the river to spawn. It's difficult to give any more accurate parameters because sea-run cutthroat exhibit more varied life histories than almost any other salmonid. Some may enter the rivers as early as July and some as late as February; spawning may take place at any time from February until June (the peak spawning month being, in most rivers, March). A 20-inch sea-run cutthroat will probably be 9 or 10 years old. The oldest recorded sea-run cutthroat was a 12 year old from one of Oregon's coastal rivers.

thanks for the info preston