Coastal Cutthroat Trout
Coastal cutthroats are densely spotted both from front to back and from top to bottom. Spots are almost always present on top of the head and can often be found on the ventral surface and the anal fin. Other cutthroats do not have nearly as many spots, and never have them on the top of their heads. Armed with the additional knowledge that their ranges seldom overlap, it shoud be relatively easy to distinguish these fish from the other cutthroat subspecies.
Distinguishing them from the rainbows can be more difficult, especially for catch-and-release anglers. The sea-run and lacustrine forms of the coastal cutthroats are often a grayish silver, not unlike the steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that swim in the same waters. And while many coastal cutthroats do have the bright red slash under their jaw that gave the species its name, the slash may disappear entirely in some of the sea-run fish. Sea-run coastal cutthroats and steelhead often confuse even the experts.
Stream-resident and fluvial forms are usually brassier in color. If you can get a good look down its throat, you could look for basibranchial teeth, small protrusions between the gill arches and behind the tongue. While nine out of ten cutthroats have these teeth, they are usually lacking in rainbows. However, they can be very hard to see.
Cutthroats are typically more slender and finer scaled than the rainbows. They also have a longer mouth, often extending well beyond the eye. More positive identification usually depends on other features, like the number of pyloric caeca (small fingers in the intestine), gill rakers, or DNA.
Other identifying characteristics may also be available for the specific waters in which you are fishing.
Although they have suffered from urbanization and logging, coastal cutthroats can still be found in most of their native range: the rivers and streams along the Pacific Coast, from California's Eel River to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.
Some coastal cutts are anadromous and can be found in the estuaries in the spring and in the mainstem of the large rivers in the fall, when they return to freshwater to spawn. Resident coastal cutts can be found year-round in the rivers, streams, and lakes near the coast. The Puget Sound in Washington State may be one of the best places to look for anadromous coastal cutthroat, as these fish overwinter in marine waters and may be found cruising the shorelines in search for food year-round.
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Oncorhynchus clarki
Oncorhynchus clarki clarki
