Sea Run Cutts
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Forum Post Guidelines: This Forum is rated “Family Friendly”. Civil discussions are encouraged and welcomed. Name calling, negative, harassing, or threatening comments will be removed and may result in suspension or IP Ban without notice. Please refer to the Terms of Service and Forum Guidelines post for more information.
Sea Run Cutts
Hello everyone, I am new here. I have been trying to get some information on the searun cutts of LW and Sammamish. I have seen various fragmented conversations here and there from this website but want to open this discussion to see if anyone had anything to say. I caught my first one at the south end of Lake Sammamish on 5/4 in about 45 feet of water trolling wedding ring behind pop gear. Brass blades on both. They are a magnificent species and I was very impressed at the fish's speed and fight. Would like to know more about this, if anyone could point me to any links or if anyone wants to share I am sure this forum will be a good resource. Thanks guys!
RE:Sea Run Cutts
Not all of them are Sea Run cutts in both of the lakes...
Contact kutthroatkilla if you wanna talk more about it....
Contact kutthroatkilla if you wanna talk more about it....
Don't chase reports...Be the report others chase....
RE:Sea Run Cutts
Sam is right on. The State's expert in my opinion is Kutthroatkilla. His numerous fishing reports and pictures to back them, coupled with the many forum posts he has provided, support my opinion of his skill level. He has mastered the art of cutt fishing and will point you in the right direction. Just PM him. Good luck.
Last edited by Anonymous on Tue May 06, 2008 9:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
RE:Sea Run Cutts
Hendro -
The cutts you catch in the big lakes are coastal cutthroat one of our native trout species foundin Western Washington.
The coastal cutthroat are one of the several sub-species of cutthroat. They are an interesting fish that express a variety of life histories. They are a fish of small creeks where much of their spawning and early rearing happens. Many of western Washington small streams found in the low lands have these native fish. They typically spawn for the first time as 3 or 4 year olds and are relatively short lived with an 8 year fish being very rare.
Some of them spend their whole lives in those small cricks and are the fish that many of us caught as kids drifting worms through pools. That life history is referred to as resident fish. They generaly are quick small and anything over 10 inches would be considered to be a gaint. Most reach seual maturity at 5 to 8 inches.
A second life history is one called fluvial; this is where the young fish drop out of the small creeks to rear in the larger rivers. An example would be the fish found in the forks of the Snoqualmie. In this environment the fish grow faster and average much larger than their creek brothers. Occassionally one will find fluvial fish in that 16 to 20 inch range.
A third live history is called adfluvial; this is where the young fish drop out of the small creeks to rear in lakes. This are the fish that become the giants fo the species. They grow much faster than the fluvial fish with many reaching that 16 to 20 inch range and in ideal conditions the older fish can push 30 inches and weigh more than 10#s.
The 4th life history is called anadromous; these are the fish we call sea-runs - that is those that go to sea. These fish drop out of the small creeks and migrate to the marine waters at age 2 ot 3 (and at 6 ot 8 inches) as smolts where they spend their summer feeding in the near by marine areas; typcially staying in relatively shallow water and never straying very far from their natal waters (rare to migrate more than 20 or 30 miles from those waters). While these grow pretty well in the salt (up to a mm/day) they generally do not reach the size of the adfluvial fish. As with the others of the species these guys typically spawn at age 4 at 11 to 14 inches. As with the other life histories once the fish reaches sexually maturity they spawn every year. Again finding a fish older than 8 years is exceedingly rare. A sea-run that reahces an honest 20 inches is very rare (less common than a 20# steelhead).
The vast majority of the cutts found in Sammamish and Washington are adfluvial and not anadromous. Once the young fish find the food rich environments in the lakes there really is no need for them to go further to find the groceries they need and only the rare fish finds itself in the salt. In fact it may well be the case that more of the cutts found in the salt at Ballard are "sea-runs" from say the Snohomish than from the big lakes.
As you noted regardless of which life history we encounter a very interesting fish that supports considerable angler interest and enjoyment.
Tight lines
Curt
The cutts you catch in the big lakes are coastal cutthroat one of our native trout species foundin Western Washington.
The coastal cutthroat are one of the several sub-species of cutthroat. They are an interesting fish that express a variety of life histories. They are a fish of small creeks where much of their spawning and early rearing happens. Many of western Washington small streams found in the low lands have these native fish. They typically spawn for the first time as 3 or 4 year olds and are relatively short lived with an 8 year fish being very rare.
Some of them spend their whole lives in those small cricks and are the fish that many of us caught as kids drifting worms through pools. That life history is referred to as resident fish. They generaly are quick small and anything over 10 inches would be considered to be a gaint. Most reach seual maturity at 5 to 8 inches.
A second life history is one called fluvial; this is where the young fish drop out of the small creeks to rear in the larger rivers. An example would be the fish found in the forks of the Snoqualmie. In this environment the fish grow faster and average much larger than their creek brothers. Occassionally one will find fluvial fish in that 16 to 20 inch range.
A third live history is called adfluvial; this is where the young fish drop out of the small creeks to rear in lakes. This are the fish that become the giants fo the species. They grow much faster than the fluvial fish with many reaching that 16 to 20 inch range and in ideal conditions the older fish can push 30 inches and weigh more than 10#s.
The 4th life history is called anadromous; these are the fish we call sea-runs - that is those that go to sea. These fish drop out of the small creeks and migrate to the marine waters at age 2 ot 3 (and at 6 ot 8 inches) as smolts where they spend their summer feeding in the near by marine areas; typcially staying in relatively shallow water and never straying very far from their natal waters (rare to migrate more than 20 or 30 miles from those waters). While these grow pretty well in the salt (up to a mm/day) they generally do not reach the size of the adfluvial fish. As with the others of the species these guys typically spawn at age 4 at 11 to 14 inches. As with the other life histories once the fish reaches sexually maturity they spawn every year. Again finding a fish older than 8 years is exceedingly rare. A sea-run that reahces an honest 20 inches is very rare (less common than a 20# steelhead).
The vast majority of the cutts found in Sammamish and Washington are adfluvial and not anadromous. Once the young fish find the food rich environments in the lakes there really is no need for them to go further to find the groceries they need and only the rare fish finds itself in the salt. In fact it may well be the case that more of the cutts found in the salt at Ballard are "sea-runs" from say the Snohomish than from the big lakes.
As you noted regardless of which life history we encounter a very interesting fish that supports considerable angler interest and enjoyment.
Tight lines
Curt
RE:Sea Run Cutts
Oh wow Smalma, that is some great information! I am very appreciative. Now that you've demonstrated you know their life cycles and various other tidbits of cutthroat trivia, can you tell me how to catch 'em best? Went out yesterday, south end of Lk. Samm again, marking a lot of fish to the W. side of the creek maybe 100 yards and roughly 200 yards to 300 yards out from the mouth. Had my three little munchkins with me so we had a nice 4 rod spread with various offerings. Caught one perch on a green krocodile on drigger. I've been running pop gear with triple teazer, orange, pop gear with wedding ring and night crawler/without, a couple of mini orange plugs herringbone orange in the mini wart and the size 0 hot shot in orange. Can anyone tell me anything? Colors, scents, troll speeds, depths, times of year etc.? Any tidbits are helpful.
So these adfluvial fish are not anadramous so they're out there acting just like the rainbows I suspect. Is there a good population of these fish in LW and Samm, I mostly fish Lk. Samm with my kids. Or as I call them, extra rods.
...
So these adfluvial fish are not anadramous so they're out there acting just like the rainbows I suspect. Is there a good population of these fish in LW and Samm, I mostly fish Lk. Samm with my kids. Or as I call them, extra rods.
...RE:Sea Run Cutts
I have my best luck with Lake Sam cutties in fall/winter.. but I guess I've never tried in Spring because to many other fish to go after and in Summer the lake is taken over by wake boarders.
When fishing for them I troll orange label herring set at 12-25ft on the downrigger (Let out alot of line before hooking it to the downrigger).
They eat those little herrings up. Needle fish also work good.
When fishing for them I troll orange label herring set at 12-25ft on the downrigger (Let out alot of line before hooking it to the downrigger).
They eat those little herrings up. Needle fish also work good.
RE:Sea Run Cutts
Hendro -
While those adfuvial cutts are foraging in the lake much like rainbows they feed at an entirely different level (epecially the large cutts). They like a big mouth full. They target smaller fish (especially salmon smolts this time of year), crawdads and sculpins. An example of how large of fish they eat is that 14#+ cutt caught out of Lake Washington 7 or 8 years ago had been feeding on 5/6 inch yellow perch. The bass fishermen catch quite a few cutts while targeting smallmouth - they like eating the same things - when I fished Sammamish/Washingotn for smallmouth the typical day nearly always included several cutts.
During the late winter/early spring the cutts gang up near Issaquah Creek either waiting to spawn or dropping back out after spawning. This time of the year they begin spreading out. Let me say up front that the vast majority of coastal cutts I have caught have been with flies however here are some ideas for gear -
For trolling I would concentrate on minnow type lures - 3 inch spoons behind a dodger at different depths and slim minnow plugs. Have taken some nice fish over the years trolling minnow plugs off a 3-way swivel bouncing the bottom in 20 to 30 feet of water though the bass will be a pest.
If you are looking for action for the kids I would suggest that you consider targeting the very nice yellow perch in Sammamish. During the summer (beginning in another month or so) you will find them on the outside of the weed beds and later in the early fall they will begin schooling and movng deeper and you can see the "piles" on the depth sounder. Once you find them a mini jig with a piece of meat or gulp will consistently catch them. A productive way to find the scattered summer perch is to troll a smallish bass crankbait that dives 12 to 15 feet along the outside of the docks and weeds though once again you will also catch some smallmouth bass and the occassional cutt.
Once you find a pattern that works you should be able to repeat it until conditons change.
Tight lines
Curt
While those adfuvial cutts are foraging in the lake much like rainbows they feed at an entirely different level (epecially the large cutts). They like a big mouth full. They target smaller fish (especially salmon smolts this time of year), crawdads and sculpins. An example of how large of fish they eat is that 14#+ cutt caught out of Lake Washington 7 or 8 years ago had been feeding on 5/6 inch yellow perch. The bass fishermen catch quite a few cutts while targeting smallmouth - they like eating the same things - when I fished Sammamish/Washingotn for smallmouth the typical day nearly always included several cutts.
During the late winter/early spring the cutts gang up near Issaquah Creek either waiting to spawn or dropping back out after spawning. This time of the year they begin spreading out. Let me say up front that the vast majority of coastal cutts I have caught have been with flies however here are some ideas for gear -
For trolling I would concentrate on minnow type lures - 3 inch spoons behind a dodger at different depths and slim minnow plugs. Have taken some nice fish over the years trolling minnow plugs off a 3-way swivel bouncing the bottom in 20 to 30 feet of water though the bass will be a pest.
If you are looking for action for the kids I would suggest that you consider targeting the very nice yellow perch in Sammamish. During the summer (beginning in another month or so) you will find them on the outside of the weed beds and later in the early fall they will begin schooling and movng deeper and you can see the "piles" on the depth sounder. Once you find them a mini jig with a piece of meat or gulp will consistently catch them. A productive way to find the scattered summer perch is to troll a smallish bass crankbait that dives 12 to 15 feet along the outside of the docks and weeds though once again you will also catch some smallmouth bass and the occassional cutt.
Once you find a pattern that works you should be able to repeat it until conditons change.
Tight lines
Curt
Last edited by Anonymous on Tue May 06, 2008 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kutthroatkilla
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RE:Sea Run Cutts
Check out this link that I supplied for HOW to fish for and catch LW and LS cutthroat trout:Hendro wrote:Can you tell me how to catch 'em best?
http://washingtonlakes.com/forum/yaf_po ... shing.aspx
Right now, focus on the littoral zones (20-45') -- the bridges are good places to start as well.
Pop gear and worms are overkill...use spoons -- needlefish only.
Dodgers and flashers/etc. just spook the larger fish and it's overkill for these fish...just fish the spoon only.
PM me if you need more info -- I think that link (article) lays it out quite nicely.
I consistently catch limits everytime I go out -- although I've focused on fly fishing lowland lakes of late,
along with going out when the tides allow and hitting up some nice ling cod in Puget Sound,
but "my regulars" that fish the lake who have a "pulse" on the lake say it's pretty darn good. My buddy
caught a 7 pound hen last week and limited with 5 yesterday off Groat Pt. in 40' of water on 3#+ fish.
Plugs need to be trolled fast and cutts don't like a fast troll usually (sometimes they do -- rarely). Plugs aren't used
on a daily basis...troll krocks and needlers along with dick nites...don't fish that worm stuff with pop gear -- way too
heavy and you'll spook every fish out of the area -- they are spooked easily -- it's a stealth fishery.
Read that article and you'll get a sense of how I do it -- go with an Abu Garcia reel (6001C - quality).
I'm working on an article for "Lake Washington Cutthroat Trout" and Mike is aware of this and it will be sent to him when complete in a few weeks.
Good luck in the interim,
KTK
Last edited by Anonymous on Tue May 06, 2008 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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