Coastal Cutthroat Trout

Introduction: As you can probably tell, Coastal Cutthroat are one of the trout that I fish for the most. The Coastal Cutthroat is a major subspecies of Cutthroat trout that is native to the Western Coast of North America, for about 2,000 miles, from the Eel River in Northern California, to the Prince William Sound in Southern Alaska (See map below). The Coastal Cutthroat Trout is the only subspecies of Cutthroat that utilizes marine environments throughout its life history. Unlike other sea-run trout or salmon, Coastal Cutthroat do not attain a very large size, and a fish weighing 5 or 6 pounds is a trophy. This is due in part to their lifehistory, although with their long life span, larger sizes would be expected. Where steelhead, or salmon travel hundreds or even thousands of miles during their time at sea, Coastal Cutthroat tend to stay with in the confines of the estuary. They usually prefer water that is only about ten feet deep, and often stay within about five miles of their natal streams and usually spend between 60 and 90 in the salt water.
         If anyone ever tells you that Cutthroat aren't very good fighters, definetly forgot about Coastal Cutthroat, pound for pound, these trout are some of the strongest fighting trout around especially when they are in the salt water, and can put a serious bend in a fly rod.
      Like with other species of sea-run trout, Coastal Cutthroat also have a resident for which does not migrate out to sea. Populations of resident cutthroat often occur above barrier falls, with the Cutthroat above Snoqualmie Falls being a good example of a resident population. Lake adapted Coastal Cutthroat have the potential of attaining the largest size, of any life history form of Coastal Cutthroat. An example of a lake population is the Cutthroat of Crescent Lake in Olympic National Park, where individuals have been recorded up to twelve pounds. Both Lake and Sea-Run Coastal Cutthroat have a life span of between 7 and 9 years.
       Sea-Run Cutthroat return to their natal streams between the middle of summer and winter often following the spawning runs of Salmon. They spawn in late winter between February and March. The survival rate for Cutthroat returning to spawn a second time is relative high (up to 40%), and they have been documented to spawn up to five times during the course of their life.
    Unlike other subspecies of Cutthroat trout, Coastal Cutthroat as a whole have evolved with Rainbow trout throughout their entire range. Due to this fact, they do not readily interbeed with native rainbows, and because they take advantage of different parts of streams for spawning.   Since they have coevolved with Rainbow Trout they have not been displaced by Rainbow Trout in their native range to any overly measurable degree unlike inland subspecies, which have been severly impacted by the introduction of Rainbows.   However juvenile Rainbow trout and salmon often compete with Coastal Cutthroat, taking the prime holding water and lowering the survival rates of juvenile cutthroat. Logging and habitat degradation in their native range has had major impacts on the numbers of Coastal Cutthroat in some drainages.

Description: Out of all of the subspecies of Cutthroat, the appearance of Coastal Cutthroat shows least amount of resemblence to the others. Both Sea-Run and Coastal Cutthroat from larger lakes have a silvery look. Coastal Cutthroat often have spots across their entire body, which range in size from tiny to a size close to that of inland cutthroat. However some Coastal Cutthroat are sparsely spotted, such as the one in the picture above and to the left.   Resident Coastal Cutthroat of have copper, or orangish-yellow coloration, with is also present on spawning sea-run individuals. Coastal Cutthroat also can show a rose or voilet of coloring along their lateral line and on their cheeks, and always have a red, orange of crimson slash under their jaws.

Below: A map of the native range of Coastal Cutthroat.