# Noob trout ID



## CzHskr (Jan 29, 2012)

Still new to this Utah trout fishing thing (rather be pulling channel or blues out of the North Platte) and need an ID on this guy I caught today. Didn't look like the other ten million other bows that I have to beat off of my hook.


----------



## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

Cutbow maybe? Are there cutthroats in the water you were fishing?


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Just a plain old rainbow.


----------



## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Great looking rainbow. Have you considered fishing Utah lake? Chances are you will catch 100 catfish without being pestered by any rainbows.-----SS


----------



## CzHskr (Jan 29, 2012)

TPrawitt91 said:


> Cutbow maybe? Are there cutthroats in the water you were fishing?


According to the DWR dudes there allegedly is.


----------



## CzHskr (Jan 29, 2012)

Springville Shooter said:


> Great looking rainbow. Have you considered fishing Utah lake? Chances are you will catch 100 catfish without being pestered by any rainbows.-----SS


Its on the list now, appreciate the heads up.


----------



## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

CzHskr -- what is giving you trouble in the identification?

Instead of all of us just telling you what that fish is, maybe we can tell you what characteristics we are looking at to identify it.

A. white tipped fins
B. Spots on head (between eyes and on nose)
C. Heavy consistent spotting from head to tail

The three of those items above combined = rainbow.

Cutthroat in Utah have very few spots on the head, specifically between the eyes. Some species of cutthroat do have heavy spotting on the head, but most of our species here in Utah do not. They also typically have heavier spotting towards the tail. Fins on cutthroat are usually orange without the white tips. Also, you can look for basibranchial teeth -- rainbow trout do NOT have basibranchial teeth (teeth on the back of the tongue).

It is not a hybrid. 



Also, just in case it helps:

Trout (rainbow, cutthroat, brown) have dark spots on a light background.
Char (brook trout, lake trout, splake) have light spots on a dark background.
hybrids (tiger trout) are a cross between a trout and char, which results in the weird wormlike vermiculations instead of spots on a background.


there you have it. Hope this helps. Enjoy the fun of learning to fish for some new species.


----------



## CzHskr (Jan 29, 2012)

PBH said:


> CzHskr -- what is giving you trouble in the identification?
> 
> Instead of all of us just telling you what that fish is, maybe we can tell you what characteristics we are looking at to identify it.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the id tips. I grew up in western Nebraska and have never even touched a trout until I moved here so trout ID is very sketchy for me.


----------

