Finding The Cutthroats

Searching out new cutthroat water is something I really enjoy. I have a love affair with these trout and the places they reside. I just never tire of these beautiful fish. When I discovered some information on a relatively close piece of water that supposedly holds cutthroats, I jumped at the chance to hike in and test it out. The hike in was not an easy one by any means. The first mile of trail is approximately a 1000 foot gain in elevation and I was having flashbacks to the week before when following in the footsteps of Shoe. At least this was a well established trail and did not require any bushwacking. After arriving at the lake, there were a few sporadic rises. A good omen when scanning new water. I opted for a hopper with a trailing adams as my searching setup and was immediately getting those slow rising cutthroat strikes. The fish were beautifully colored and seemed to be of two varieties, greenback cutthroat trout and snake river finespotted cutthroat trout. The snake rivers really light up in the fighting department. They are noticeably stronger and also seemed to be heavier and of an older age class than the greenbacks I was landing. A hail storm ran me off the water to cover for a little while but it quickly passed as I enjoyed a late lunch. Afterward, there were some more rising fish but eventually they subsided. I went to a midge indicator setup and landed another nice snake river cutthroat to end the day and head back down the trail. Beautiful fish and scenery combined to make this a trip I will have to take again this fall.