Help IDing fish and another question

[Ryan Bowering]

Hi everyone,
Can I get a little help IDing these fish? Hopefully you can see enough to help me out. We only have rainbows where I’m from, and I’m not good at telling apart the cuts from the rainbow out here.
I know to look for the red marks on the throat, but not exactly sure what I should be seeing, and also jawline helps right? Spots below the lateral line I know is an indicator…

Any tips would be helpful, I don’t want to misrepresent the species in my reports.

Also,
what’s the etiquette on cleaning fish lakeside?

thanks everyone!

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[Brian Curtis]

Those are coastal cutthroat (CT) trout. Spotting for westslope CT is much different. The red slashes under the jaws are prominent in most of the pictured fish. CT also have maxillary (upper jaw) that extend past their eyes. Otherwise coastal CT look a lot like RB.

Fish guts should have their air bladders slit so that they sink and they should be thrown well out into the lake so they are out of sight. That will help return nutrients to the lake that the fish will otherwise have utilized.

Looks like you had a fun day!

[Ryan Bowering]

Thanks Brian! I thought most of them were cutthroats, but there are two with jawlines that made me question it!

That was 2 different evenings! My first 5 fish in WA, and very very satisfying. Catching fish out here is a lot different than the quintessential worm and bobber that you throw in literally ANY lake in Newfoundland that I’m used to, so I was super excited to land a couple. It was getting a little disheartening. lol. Also, I caught them from an inflatable Kayak, which is just such a lovely way to spend the evening in WA anyways, let alone fishing. What a couple of days. Love it.

Excited to meet you all next week, I’m not sure how the meetings work, but maybe we could spend a couple of minutes looking at some photos, to help new folks like me ID? I love the data collection/submission aspect of what you all are doing, and want to contribute good data! lol

Thanks for tips on fish cleaning lakeside, makes sense.

See you next week!

[Don Wicklund]

Hi Ryan,
I understand your confusion! Many years ago I was having similar difficulty. Because it is important to report the correct species of fish in our Survey reports I was instrumental in spearheading the Fish ID Card. It is a small waterproof card with pictures and descriptions of 8 of the most likely to catch local species of fish. I still carry one with me in my bag of survey tools. You can purchase one at the meeting for 5 bucks or order directly from our website. From the home page go to Science/Trout ID card where you can see a pic of it and order one through Pay Pal for $6.75.
Thanks for wanting to provide accurate survey reports, Welcome, and I look forward to meeting you. Don

[Ryan Bowering]

Thanks Don! That’s perfect, I’ll bring some cash to the meeting!

[Ryan Bowering]

Gentlemen,

About the surveys, if I clean the fish lakeside, do i log the cleaned weight? or do i estimate the natural weight?

thanks

[Brian Curtis]

For weighing fish we are looking for the total weight prior to cleaning. Don will have small, light scales available for purchase so you can weigh them lakeside.

[Ryan Bowering]

I bring a thermometer, but couldn’t come up with bring a scale…. duh. I’m a smart one, lemme tell ya! lol. thanks

[Brian Curtis]

You know, we are going to need to learn more about fishing in Newfoundland. The more photos the better!

[Ryan Bowering]

The most notable Newfoundland fishing in my memory, is before they put a moratorium on cod, we would go out in an open dory, an just jig with huge hooks. You usually couldn’t pull more than 2 or 3 times without hitting something. Clean the fish on the beach, and as the tide goes out you can pick all the fresh muscles you can eat.

As far as freshwater goes, it’s pretty much just trout or salmon. The trout are pretty small, and i’ll be damned if i’ve ever seen anyone use anything other than a bobber and worm to fish for trout there.

Pictures would be cool. I’ll see what mom can dig up!

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