Newer to the forum, an old geezer (almost) to fishing-have my 40 years in chasing fish.

I tried to search, do you guys recall catching 20 inch plus heavy spotted, yellowbelly cutthroats in ponds and sloughs "back in the day"?

I have talked to some of the younger generation about fish I caught in my youth and they think I am wacky. I know we had leopard cutthroat on the coast of WA and I moved away and have been home and have not encountered any in the past few years.

Seems I remember all the local sporting good stores-like Failor's in Aberdeen, or hardware stores Forks, had pics or actually taxidermy dark 5 pound cutthroat mounted-anyone remember that?

Did they quit planting the small ponds and lakes I caught them in?
Am I just plain losing it?

Thanks in advance

They may have planted those ponds or they were simply the wild cutthroat that lived there. A lot has changed over the years, including a lot of lost habitat. The stream may still be there, the pond may still be there, but it has changed so that it won't support the fish. And, 40 years of catch and kill adds up.

thanks carcassman, perhaps you are right-just too much pressure over the years and loss of habitat sealed the deal

they were really, really pretty fish

thanks!

The coastal cutts that lived their entire lives in places like beaver ponds certainly took on different coloring from what I remember. I can recall catching some that had almost brown backs with yellowish / orange bellies. This of course was years ago.

Here are some cutthroat pictures.
The first three pictures are some saltwater cutthroat from the past few years that show the variation in colors. You can see the yellow color forming on the lower jaw and belly in the second picture.
The last picture is from a stream that does have beaver ponds on it.
SF

SF -
Love those cutthroat that those big yellow spots along their bellies.

Osprey-
A major change from years ago is the invasion of bass in many of the larger/more permanent ponds. The result is fewer cutthroat with those large toads of years gone much rarer.

Curt

Very good looking fish, Stonefish-thanks for posting.
I see some of the color getting there. Yes, the beaverpond fish were spotted all over and had a brown back and yellow sides..and sometimes had reddish fins too. I wish I had a camera with me back in the day all the time. Some fish were into the lower 20"'s and heavy.
trying to figure out how to add a pic on here of one that shows a small example.

Great stuff !
Thanks

Thank you, Smalma, for the information.

Some of the fish did have one or up to several yellow spots on the belly or jaw, weird stuff.

Good stuff !

Get one of the grandkids to help you post some, love to see your old beaver pond cutt pics.


c/22

+1


Nice fish, Stone!

caught and released them like hell in high school on McLane creek in Thurston county. that was when it was open but that was 16 years ago.

I hear ya-darn smart kids these days !
computer savvy as heck

used to fish for them at night with bullhead meat as bait as a kid. the big yellow bellies came out at night to feed in the shallow ripples. if i remember right 22 inchs was the biggest i caught. also caught them at night up in the still waters of the satsop. above matlock

Yes, night fishing for trout here or in E WA is a favorite of mine as well

While in grad school one of my jobs was to release the day's collection of chum fry, They were held all day in big circular tub (multi-thousands) and the drained out a 4" pipe. After dark. Shined a flashlight on the outfall once and there was a cutthroat, whose head just fit, filter-feeding on the stream of fry as they came out. We also tossed the cutts coho smolts which they gobbled down.

pretty stinkin cool. carcassman. I have caught a lot of fish that are bigger and fight a lot better, but a 14 + inch sea run cutthroat is still my favorite.

When God was creating fish She made the cutthroat (all the varieties), stepped back, and said "That's as good as I can do".

I'll take a wild cutthroat of any size and variety over just about any other fish. A male in spawning colors is the cherry on the sundae.

osprey,
Here is a picture I found of a cutthroat my buddy caught out of the salt that is starting to display some of the orange belly you mentioned.




Here is a website you might enjoy. They are starting to catch some of the previously tagged cutthroat they are studying.
http://www.coastalcutthroatcoalition.com/
Enjoy
SF

Here's a Purdy one from way up high on a local river.

Very cool! Yes, it is hard to get a look at spawning colors as the fish spawn during closed seasons mostly and have always looked through government/fisheries literature for pics of full-on spawners and have come up empty.
I have seen some Cowlitz Cutthroat with a pretty good amount of red on the bellies.
Truly amazing fish and see you guys too have the same admiration for their beauty !

I did run across the coalition a month or so back-good, good stuff !

That is a beauty! Looks like perhaps a post spawn Sea Run maybe?
Although, I have never seen a very fat stream resident so maybe never tasted salt? Great fish. Thanks for sharing

Love the big jaws of a Cutt.

Love our cutthroat-
Thanks for posting pics, guys!