# small stream cutthroat or rainbow?



## 2fishon (Jan 13, 2008)

I finally got a chance to go look for a mine that I had been wanting to look for for a couple of years now. As an afterthought I threw in my 3wt just in case. I had'nt fished this small stream in about 15 years. I remembered it having lots of small cutts and an abundance of rattlesnakes. I got to a spot that had a few nice holes that I couldn't pass up and tied on a black beetle. It was non-stop catching for the next couple of hours. I didn't catch a single fish over 12", but what a blast. Never did go look for that mine.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

Nice! That's a great little cutt. They're so pretty at any size, but especially when they're small.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

Very nice! I really love fishing small streams, sometimes they are a "gold mine" all by themselves. Beautiful fish.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

Cutt? Are you sure about that?


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## 2fishon (Jan 13, 2008)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

PBH, not positive. You can't see the slash marks in the picture. What are you thinking?


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

nice fish...pretty sure that's a rainbow, though!


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## 2fishon (Jan 13, 2008)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

You could sure be right.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*

No question. It's a rainbow.

Which stream you fishing? That will certainly help identify it. (you could pm me if you're worried about giving out the name on the forum).


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## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

absolutely a rainbow


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*



PBH said:


> No question. It's a rainbow.
> 
> Which stream you fishing? That will certainly help identify it. (you could pm me if you're worried about giving out the name on the forum).


I agree that the area would help identify it. But I don't necessarily agree that it is a rainbow. There are certain strains of rainbows that have parr marks, but they are not common in Utah. Most rainbows with parr marks are either a hybrid, a Redband rainbow, or from the Kamloops strain. But Kamloops haven't been planted in Utah in a long time. Redband rainbows have parr marks as well, but they typically also have darker black spots in the parr marks too. To my knowledge, no Redband rainbows have been stocked in Utah and they are not native to Utah.

My opinion is that this one appears to be a hybrid with another fish that has parr marks. But, to say for sure, I would have to know the drainage in which it was caught.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

I think it is this one:

[attachment=0:272i8pf5]Found it.jpg[/attachment:272i8pf5]

But, like I said, I'd have to know where it was caught to know for sure.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

It's a Greenback Cutt.....

Pretty sucker, whatever it is !!


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## Jed (Feb 25, 2009)

Maybe a little Bonneville Cutthroat [ http://moldychum.typepad.com/moldy_chum ... routi1.jpg ]

or a "Cutbow" hybrid.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: small stream cutthroat*



LOAH said:


> Nice! That's a great little cutt. They're so pretty at any size, but especially when they're small.


 

After looking again, I totally agree that it is a rainbow. I hadn't looked too closely the first time.

Still a pretty little thang.


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Looks like a cutt-bow to me.


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## HighmtnFish (Jun 3, 2010)

That's a pretty fish. When I was younger I remember catching some fish that looked just like that out of the Virgin River along Highway 89. Some of the old timers I have talked too said that those kind of fish were "natives". I don't know if that means they are cutthroats but there's not many places to find fish like that one.


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## summit72 (Oct 4, 2008)

**** looking fish.


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## 2fishon (Jan 13, 2008)

Check out this link.
http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/news/4...lle-cutthroat-returning-to-shingle-creek.html


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Earlier this summer I caught a little rainbow just like that one, maybe a bit bigger in Big Cottonwood Creek right in the Storm Mountain picnic area. Pretty little fish.


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## billybob (Oct 27, 2008)

I agree with Dodger. Oversimplification to call this a rainbow. I have a small stream I fish, where the mature fish have prominent parr marking and white strips on their fins (like a brook trout would have). Not goldens, but likely a strain of redbands. My best bet from the info in Robert J. Behnke's "Trout and Salmon of North America", this fish and the fish I am catching are a type of Redband. All rainbows have parr markings when they are still really young, but when the mature fish also have them, you have to start asking what type of fish you are catching. The question is, if these are redbands, how did they get here.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

I could be wrong but don't most trout species have parr marks? Browns, brookies, cutts, bows all get em. I'd say the original fish is a bow and the fish on the top of the second page is a cuttie. So mains strains and varieties...I love it!

california redband









utah bow


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

It is pretty standard on small streams for rainbows to retain their parr markings into adulthood. Nearly all cutthroat, except coastal and lahontan, have very few spots on the head. Since rainbows aren't native to Utah this would have to have been stocked a long time ago. Since stocked rainbows, until the last few decades, were of generic history (original stocks were derived from coastal rainbow and McCloud River redbands) there is probably no way to be sure.....beautiful little fish thought.


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## Briar Patch (Feb 1, 2010)

I like the pictures of all of the fish posted in this thread.  Gratz to those of you who caught 'em!


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## quakeycrazy (Sep 18, 2007)

No doubt that is a rainbow.


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## Daisy (Jan 4, 2010)

Rainbow. Too many spots on the head.


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## Tony (Dec 28, 2007)

I'd say hybrid. especially if that location is where I'm thinking of. small streams are great. get out and enjoy


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