Sea Run Cutthroat

General Info: Sea-Run Cutthroat (aka Coastal Cutthroat) are a severely underappreciated fish. While steelhead draw most of the attention of west-coast fly anglers, cutthroat fly under the radar in the most underlooked fishery on the west coast. Cutties are very happy to take a fly, they love to jump, they are pretty easy to find when they are around, and they take a nice picture. While you are not going to find fish that can compete with the size of most steelhead, you will find good numbers of and solitude on the river or beach. SRC can be fished on many beaches in the Northwest, but Puget Sound and Hood Canal are the hot spots for cutthroat fishing. Cutties can be found in Oregon and all up the BC coast into Alaska. There are some popular areas on Vancouver Island as well.

While many anglers fish them from the beach, they also run into the coastal rivers to spawn and to follow food. The bulk of the run enters the rivers in the fall, but good fishing can be found on some rivers all year. A solid angler could experience some lights out fishing on a coastal stream in September and not see another fly angler anywhere around. Sounds about perfect...

Preferred Gear

Rods: 6wt. rods that can occasionally handle bigger flies.

Reels: It just needs to match size. These fish are not going to stress out your reels. Sealed drags are really nice for saltwater, but not 100% necessary if you keep your reel rinsed out and clean.

Lines: Weight forward, floating or intermediate sink. Many anglers prefer intermediate sinking lines from the beach.