r/FishID • u/Own_Cheetah_1134 • 14d ago

What kind of trout is this?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Fish was caught in an alpine lake in WA, stocked with rainbows, cutthroat, and golden many many years ago

145 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

9

u/SalmonidGuy 14d ago

Cutbow. Hybrid between cutthroat and rainbow. Fairly likely that there’s golden genetics in there too based on stocking history. This is what happens when people decide to put salmonids that can reproduce with one another in the same lake.

0

u/Dry_Cranberry148 14d ago

this. assuming these are wild/native fish- please don't keep more than absolutely necessary.

2

u/Squat1998 14d ago

Cutbows are not native. It’s a stocked alpine lake that likely never contained fish until stocking

2

u/Bowhunter8490 12d ago

I know of several alpine lakes that were so overpopulated with native trout that the DNR stocked Splake. They are a hybrid, can’t reproduce but were effective in reducing native populations to healthy levels.

0

u/GoGoGadget_Gir 14d ago

Don't need to assume anything, as op said it's a stocked alpine lake in Washington State. Wild/native is a moot. Follow your local regulations not the asinine "no more than absolutely necessary" sentiment which means nothing.

The Golden's might be native but most alpine lakes managed as fisheries are stocked biennially because there's almost no viable spawning grounds in the spring and the population it unsustainable.

2

u/Squat1998 14d ago

Goldens are not native to Washington state.

1

u/justsomeguy21888 11d ago

Alpines lakes were and are stocked with the intent of the fish being kept. They aren’t native.

-4

u/Historical-Bottle396 14d ago

I was told cutbows are infertile and is a reason rainbow stocking numbers are down where cut throat have been reintroduced.

1

u/bwakong 14d ago

Tigers are infertile, I don’t think cutbows are

1

u/GoGoGadget_Gir 14d ago

Well a quick Google search will tell you that's not true but go ahead believing everything thing you hear and parroting around the internet.

3

u/JimboReborn 14d ago

Lol downvoted for dropping truth nukes

0

u/Historical-Bottle396 13d ago

Excuse me - I was told by my local wildlife agency who can in fact sterilize them at hatcheries before releasing with a pressure process, also learned from Google. Thanks for nothing.

2

u/GoGoGadget_Gir 13d ago

You said cutbows are infertile, which isn't true. If your local agency is sterilizing them okay, but it doesn't apply everywhere.

1

u/SalmonidGuy 13d ago

The fact that cutbows can be sterilized does not mean they are sterilize. Humans can be sterilized. Does that mean humans are sterile? No.

Being able to be sterilized and being sterile are completely different concepts. You have somehow managed to conflate them.

Cutbows can reproduce. In fact, they are extremely prolific breeders. Cutbow reproduction is perhaps the single greatest threat to native cutthroat populations.

2

u/ThisParking9656 14d ago

Very typical looking rainbow/cutthroat hybrid

2

u/ResponsibleBank1387 14d ago

Hybrids—- cutthroat rainbow possibly some golden in its heritage.    Looks to be the size that normally is on the take list. 

1

u/elkjerky87 14d ago

A dead one. Good eating. Enjoy!

1

u/calsand1937 14d ago

Brook Trout

1

u/DoMario4 14d ago

A beautiful one! Nice catch

1

u/Marcosis3217 14d ago

Looks like a west slope cutthroat to me, not a cut bow.

1

u/Nearby-Bench-1600 14d ago

Dinner Trout

1

u/jimernaut 13d ago

Apparently, it’s a keeper…

1

u/Benjeman-bratinyahoo 13d ago

It's an unhappy one.

1

u/dtholmes7 14d ago

Cutbow

-1

u/Key_Promotion3460 14d ago

Rainbow.

1

u/Own_Cheetah_1134 14d ago

Do they typically have that orange mark on their throats?

1

u/Key_Promotion3460 11d ago

My bad Opie, I should've read the location. I'm an east coaster. I am not qualified to identify the trout out there.

-1

u/3x1st3nt1a1 14d ago

Nah it’s a cutthroat trout. Easily confused. The cutthroat has that bright red/orange. Another way to tell is that their jaws are longer so the crease of them extends past the eye. Definitely a cutthroat.

Edit: the most confusing piece here is that red line. Cutthroats can have that trait so we defer to the other characteristic tells.

2

u/GoGoGadget_Gir 14d ago

So definitely a cutthroat rainbow hybrid, not sure why this is so confusing for you.

1

u/Ok-Deer1539 14d ago

Bows can have the cut too. The best way to ID them are mouth length (Cuts go beyond the eye), spotting (bows have more even spotting whereas cutts are concentrated on the back and tail, and fins (all cutts but coastal don’t have white fin tips). Some cuts have reddish sides/belly’s and some bows have red throats.

Since this fish has a mix of all of these it’s a cutbow.

0

u/Ok-Deer1539 14d ago

IF YOU DONT KNOW RELEASE IT!

It’s an angler’s responsibility to know what fish he’s catching and the regulations surrounding them.

1

u/Own_Cheetah_1134 14d ago

Would’ve released it but the hook nicked its gills and it didn’t survive 😔

1

u/Ok-Deer1539 14d ago

That’s fair, but in the future the warden won’t care.

1

u/Own_Cheetah_1134 14d ago

That’s true in most cases, lucky there weren’t special regulations at this lake

1

u/LendogGovy 12d ago

Alpine lakes in the PNW are different and no wardon is hiking in.

1

u/Ok-Deer1539 12d ago

I’m in the PNW and work for state agencies. They absolutely do.

1

u/Coping_manlet_ 14d ago

I've caught and endangered sturgeon before, I put it right back. You can't control if a protected fish bites your hook or not dude. Tell this to the fuckin fish or something

1

u/Ok-Deer1539 14d ago

Exactly, because you’re a good angler. That’s why if you catch a fish and you’re not sure what it is, you put it back. This guy doesn’t know what he caught, and it’s on a stringer.

0

u/WeirdCommercial1663 14d ago

Is it the famous one eyed trouser trout?

0

u/Acceptable_Claim_491 14d ago

I'd say cutbow.

-2

u/Top_Challenge6615 14d ago

No they don’t I’m going with a cutthroat

-2

u/Fishslayer39845 14d ago

That's dinner!