Decided to look for wild cutthroat as an alternative to fishing for the typical 10” stocker rainbows and found some wetlands chock full of them! I don’t want to disclose the exact location as it appears very few people (if any) fish there. I do want to share general conditions as I suspect there are many similar places in the Puget Sound region right under our noses which anglers interested in this species may want to consider but would otherwise simply overlook. This report covers several trips I made during the spring, summer and fall to the same location.

The cutthroat were aggressive, hard fighting and healthy. Most were in the 10-14” range, and I lost a few larger ones that bit through 4lb leader with their large, toothy jaws after some good runs and acrobatic leaps. Often they took the line within seconds after the bait hit the water, and kept striking after hookup misses. Very red meat.

I fished for them panfish style, bobber and crappie jig tipped with a small piece of worm, close to structure and weeds. Pulled in several 6”-9” inch perch and a few bass along with the cutthroat using this method. I was surprised how close to the shoreline these trout were holding. Once I caught my trout limits, a switch to casting small crankbaits proved to be a surefire way to catch (and release) dozens of bass until I had a decent-sized limit of 5. Most of the bass were between 9-12” inches, and in spots were getting hooked every cast or even when the lure was simply hanging over the side of the boat!

I rated this place a 4 out of 5 only because access was a little tricky and lost a bit of gear fishing in this type of habitat with all the brush, logs, etc. Trout (and bass) limits were easy and fast (20 mins for trout one of the days!) and adding the incidental catch of perch (along with fiesty sunfish and rock bass) guaranteed a good bit of action.

Early morning and late afternoon seemed to be equally good times to fish, with the bite seeming to slow in the mid-afternoons.

This location reminded me of fishing this State as a kid, so to come back here to the Puget Sound area after being away nearly 40 years and finding there are still places like the good ol’ days has been quite rewarding.

---