TroutJournal.com

[79Ford]

So here's a cutt that I caught a few years back. We had a series of heavy storms that washed out a lot of beaver dams and she must have got washed downstream. We didn't know she was a native fish at the time or we would have released her, but we have fished the same area many times since and have only caught rainbows. Nobody in the area remembers a cutt being taken out of the creek for several years past.



This is a 3 D-cell mag light

[TroutJournal]

Very cool story and a great fish. How can you tell for sure it's a Native? Or how can I tell if I catch one?

[79Ford]

We asked around and nobody knew of cutts being planted in the area ever. Some old timers said that they used to catch them out of the creek a few decades ago, but hadn't seen any come out of there in a long time. So it's really only a guess that it's a native fish, but i dont know where it would have come from if it wasn't a native fish.

[highcountry]

Not knowing where you caught the cutt, it's hard to say if it's a native, however... In the central Rocky Mountains, cutts are the only native trout, so it could well be the case with your fish.

Because of winter kill and introduction of other "dominant species", there are very few waters that "truly" hold native cutts any more, but they DO exist.