Searun Cutthroat...Wow!

First Bite · 07-30-2001, 09:31 PM

I fished the lower Wilson today and had several hard bobber-downs...all cutthroat! I was amazed at the size of these fish. Three were over 16" and they were all fat. Since the ODFW closed the upper coast rivers to the retention of these beautiful trout, the numbers and size of the fish has really increased. These were the biggest cutts I've caught in years. I was using jigs with shrimp tails at first but the smolts were inhaling the bait as fast as I could put it on so I just switched over to plain jigs and the cutts still hammered them. Anyone else run into big searun on the coast this summer?
Mark

www.firstcastjigs.com

Jennie@ifish · 07-31-2001, 05:28 AM

I have! Up to 20 inches....
Be very careful with these treasures!
Jen

Meridian · 07-31-2001, 05:38 AM

I happened to be down on the Wilson this last weekend also. Put 2 Searuns down for me. One 14 inches and the other was 17 or 18 inches. Caught these on a fly at mile marker 13. I will be back, that was alot of fun.

Osprey · 07-31-2001, 06:29 AM

Fished with my son last Tuesday I watched while he landed a 24"....WOW monster of a cut (must be a chip off the old block) [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] sorry can't tell the location for fear of .....slow castration [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] ...Os

First Bite · 07-31-2001, 07:36 AM

Osprey
Wow, a 24" searun! Now that is a monster searun cutt. Many years ago I landed one around that size. I thought it was a small Steelhead when I first hooked it. They are a beautiful fish.
Mark

www.firstcastjigs.com

DanS · 07-31-2001, 07:56 AM

What Os didn't say was, that one WASN'T the biggest cutty there. "Mr. Big" has eluded us so far, and he really deserves the name. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Redneck had a hook in him, but got slapped around a bit before Mr. Big found a log and broke him off. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

C&R regs on this, er, water have resulted in good numbers of BIG sea-runs. Remember Os, slow castration is just the beginning of what would happen.........

Meridian · 07-31-2001, 08:49 AM

Will these fish return back to the sea after spawning? I take it thats what there doing here. Also, are these fish also known Bluebacks?

BUGLEMAN · 07-31-2001, 09:07 AM

That is so awesome. I hope they never let us keep cutts like in the past. I can't wait for my chance to see one of those beauties. 14" is my tops. I did catch one this spring on the wind. It wasn't a coastal cutt and had the large red slash. Man was in nice looking and at 18"+ a sight to behold. I don't know if you can keep them up there but it didn't matter. I took the hook out and slid it right back into the water to spawn [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

SSPey · 07-31-2001, 09:07 AM

bluebacks spawn multiple years, between late fall and early spring, depending on the river

Osprey · 07-31-2001, 10:48 AM

Ya Dan,when "Mr Big" broke the surface to laugh at us ,I thought it was the Monster from Loch Ness...No sheet at least8 lbs [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Redneck broke him off huh??? what happend did the spring on his bobber fail him...again [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]....Os

DanS · 07-31-2001, 12:39 PM

Yeah, I guesstimated him at somewhere between 6 and 7 lbs. In any case, he's definitely "Mr. Big".

Redneck apparently wasn't man enough to wrassle him out of the log.......something about not heavy enough line [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] Of course, if you use heavier line, he'll just porpoise around and laugh at you. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Dang fish....no wonder he's lived long enough to get SO big.

Killertraylor · 07-31-2001, 04:24 PM

Meridian - I've never heard of cutthroat being referred to as "bluebacks", but I've regularly heard sockeye called bluebacks. Maybe they do call them that, but I haven't heard it.

Fishin Magician · 07-31-2001, 09:01 PM

I got into a bunch of them flyfishing in april. They were taking dry flies later in the day. I caught a dozen or so in the "honey hole" one night.You know where that is Mark. I have some time to go fishing with you over the next couple of weeks, just let me know when you can.~~~~John

[ 07-31-2001: Message edited by: Fishin Magician ]

Tanner · 08-01-2001, 09:03 AM

Meridian,
Alot of the old timers refer to them as BlueBacks.
Fishing the Nestucca for summer steelhead 2 years ago in June my son and I were pulling divers and shrimp. I had just boated a nice 8 lb summer so we decided to row back up to the top of the run and fish it again. As soon as we got the rods back in the holders my Son's rod went down. I thought, "Cool andother nice Steely". We got the fish to the boat and it was not a steelhead. He had caught a cutthroat of about 6 1/2 - 7 lbs.
Beautiful Fish.

The catch and release regulations and the ceasing of stocking the coastal rivers with cutthroat is probably the smartest thing ODFW has ever done. I hope they have enough sense to keep it that way

SSPey · 08-01-2001, 01:53 PM

STUPID BAD NEWS - ODFW removed C&R for North Coast rivers, expect to see them in the creels, not on the reels

Jennie@ifish · 08-01-2001, 02:02 PM

Tanner??? 6 1/2 to 7 pounds? That would be a world record? Bill is shaking his head... He doesn't believe it!
Jen

Jennie@ifish · 08-01-2001, 02:03 PM

Floatnfish??? Can you confirm this?
I have not heard this yet, and I am fairly up to date on this, (I THOUGHT)
The Salmon River in Lincoln County and south is the ONLY area I knew that you could keep cutts.
Jen

[ 08-01-2001: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]

[ 08-01-2001: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]

DanS · 08-01-2001, 04:26 PM

The WA ST. record is 6 lbs. for a sea-run cutt. I saw a guy a couple of years ago land one that would break that record. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] He said he'd rather not see it (and the place he caught it) in the record books. I wouldn't call anybody a liar who claims to have tied into one in the 6-7 lb. class.....lucky, maybe.

[ 08-01-2001: Message edited by: DanS ]

Jennie@ifish · 08-01-2001, 04:52 PM

Bill certainly didn't call Tanner a liar. He just has trouble believeing it, after all the years of cutthroat fishing he has done.
I am in awe and envy!
Did you get a picture? Dang, I would love to see one that big! They are SO gorgeous!
A once in a lifetime fish for sure.
I am so speechless! I thought it was a typo at first, but not, huh, Tanner?
I want to see one that big!
I guess that is why I continue to tease them! I want my eyes to pop out of my skull some day like I bet that one made yours!
J

SSPey · 08-01-2001, 07:51 PM

Jen,

So I have to keep a copy of the regs at work too? I always C+R wild fish these days, and yep, you are right, it is C+R from Neskowin Crk north, and 2 limits in possession from Salmon river south. I usually fish southwards of the Salmon and was bummed at the law change. ANd yes, a 7lb blueback is a *bit* large. Perhaps this one was offspring of a interbreeding with steelie, which are essentially bows, since cuttbows are common everywhere else in the world?

Pete · 08-01-2001, 08:17 PM

Here's the Oregon state record:
Trout, Coastal Cutthroat 6 lbs 4 oz 1984 Siltcoos Lake Kay Schmidt

See them all at: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/...shRecords.html

Spot · 08-01-2001, 08:28 PM

Yeah, the C&R regs have definately done wonders for the Cutthroat. I landed one on a fly last fall that was pushine 4lbs and about 22". An old timer down-river got a real kick out of my acrobatics as I worked to land the monster on 2lb leader. I thought that was the biggest cutthroat in that river till winter hit and I landed one that I could have sworn was a decent steelhead except for the funny spots on it's back. When I pulled the hook out I noticed two faded but visible orange stipes. I won't even mention my estimated weight for fear of being written off as a kook. Let's just say it was big.

Tanner · 08-02-2001, 07:19 AM

It did not have the same amount of spots that a cutthroat usually has but it definitely had some red slashes under the gillplates.
Jenny, also I usually don't tell this story because most people don't believe me but I was fishing the Kilchis with a friend of mine in August about 10 years ago. We had put a small two man raft in at Logger Bridge and were fishing the deeper holes for summer steelhead. We had been doing pretty good hooking the steelhead on black vibraxes and brown rooster tails. I don't know the name of the hole but it is the one where there is a long narrow run that starts just below the third bridge down from Logger then it makes a hard left hand turn and dumps int a big fairly deep ledgy hole.
I had seen a couple of fish moving around in the deepest part of the hole so I decided to try my luck. I threw a 1/4 oz brown rooster tail with a gold blade out across the hole and started reeling it in. When it got to the rock ledge in the middle of the hole a fish emerged from underneath the ledge and commenced to chasing my spinner down. When my spinner was about 10 ft from the bank the fish grabbed it and I set the hook. I fought the fish for less than a minute and got her to the bank. I picked up the fish that was all of 15 lbs and said to my friend Todd, "That sure is a strange looking steelhead" This fish's entire body was covered with black spots. I thought, "This can't be a cutthroat it's way to big". I decided to check under the gills and sure enough there was faint red slashes. To this day I kick myself for not keeping that fish and checking it in at a registered scale. I thought about bonkin her but the problem was when I picked her up she started spewing eggs. I just did not have the heart to kill such a magnificent creature. Ever since then I have always referred to that fish as "The Mother of the Kilchis".
Believe it or Not.

Jennie@ifish · 08-02-2001, 08:23 AM

I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE!
(I think!) [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Jen

Osprey · 08-02-2001, 10:49 AM

I beleive the world record is somewhere around 30lbs [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] (I believe [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] )probably Argentia?
I personally lost huge cuts that I thought were steelies.....takes a pretty big Cutthroat to inhale a 5"sculpen [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

so why not up here???
I believe you Tanner.....well except about that goat thing........Os

Jennie@ifish · 08-02-2001, 12:55 PM

I believe Tanner, Os. I just don't believe you!
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Tanner · 08-02-2001, 12:59 PM

Hey Os. That goat thing was a true story. I even have a photo as proof. By the way, you sure are photogenic. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]