Westslope cutt

[Darren N]

The latest Banff thread had me wanting to share a Westslope that I caught in the Crowsnest area. Possibly my first and only one - knew it was a cutt but had such dark brown, green, orange colors I had to look it up after the fact.

[matt1984]

All of our Cutts are WestSlope, a lot just have some rainbow genes mixed in

[Dragless]

Won't be your only one I bet lol

[Darren N]

So correct me if I'm wrong - there is no 2 species of Cuthroats in the Crowsnest area. No regular Cuthroat but all Westlope?

I was going by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Gov website that states that the "Westlope Cuthroat" is a SUB species of the Cuthroat and that the Westslope Cuthroat is a threatened species. Which I have along with many others caught numerous cutts in the Crowsnest area.

Let me know please. thanks.

[Wazzy]

Most of the cutts stocked years ago in Banff National Park lakes (now self sustaining populations) are Yellowstone Cutts.

[goldscud]

Westslope paper:

http://www.ab-conservation.com/downl...berta_2006.pdf

http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/...-A-Mar2013.pdf

[professori]

Darren, the westslope is a subspecies of cutthroat trout, just as sea-runs, lahonta, gila and others are subspecies. There is no "regular" cutthroat. And the fact that you and many others have caught westslopes (yup, that's what they are) in no way negates the fact that they are endangered. Their range is a small fraction of what it was in the not too distant past, and the hybridization with rainbows has further degraded the numbers of genetic westslopes.
One of the major problems with discussion of and further action on shrinking populations of many species, is the tendencies of far too many people to say things like, "I have along, with many others caught numerous cutts in the Crowsnest area", imagining that their experience in a limited area is indicitive of the over-all health across the wider range.

[scel]

Originally Posted by matt1984

All of our Cutts are WestSlope, a lot just have some rainbow genes mixed in

Given the spot density, I would say Darren's fish has a good genetic slice of rainbow trout. I have caught a few trout in the Livingstone and upper Oldman that have virtually no spots near their head. The only way to tell how 'pure' a cutthroat is checking for the presence of recessive basibranchial teeth. It is recessive to the rainbow trout lack of them.

[Darren N]

Thanks for the info everyone. I learned something today. A bit embarrassed but a bit wiser.