Are the strain of cutthroat in Strawberry different than in Currant Creek?

[kingfisher82]

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[OCF]

I believe they are planting the same strain in both reservoirs. However, you might catch a wild (maybe Bonneville (?) - the strain native to the green river drainage) that has held over from the old days. I did a few years back - beautiful fish.
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[Joe_Dizzy]

I'm not 100% positive, but I believe that they are different strains...

Currant Creek should have (and I believe do have) Colorado River Cutthroats as they are the native species to the drainage.

Strawberry Reservoir is stocked with Bear Lake Cutthroats due to their aggressive nature and preference for eating baitfish.
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[Jedidiah]

Yes, the wild holdovers are Bonnevilles, I caught a little one in the Indian Creek bay a couple years ago myself. The planted fish are Bear River cutts.

If you're asking because you're trying to do the slam, the reason they're not on the map for Strawberry is that the Bear Rivers aren't native and the Bonnevilles are nearly nonexistent.
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[kingfisher82]

The reason I ask is that I've now caught a couple tiger trout at the ladders that came down through the spill way. So I know fish are making it down from Currant Creek to Strawberry. I've caught some massive cutthroat in the spillway at the ladders recently as well but they look different than the cutthroat I usually catch in Strawberry. Mostly the coloring is the main difference. These cutthroat have a much richer color and tons of reddish pink on the cheeks. The ones I catch at other parts of Strawberry seem to be more silver and overall lighter in color.
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[Anglinarcher]

Gorgeous fish for sure. I thought I read that they had planted multiple strains in Strawberry, but I am not sure.

Nevertheless, lets talk color.

Often fish that live or are currently in shallow water are darker and more colorful then the same fish in deeper darker water.

I once proved this by having my brother take a bright yellow brown trout and placing it inside a bucket with flow holes placed in it, sinking it into the same river, then coming back a few hours later. It did not even seem to be the same fish, even though it was as healthy as ever, fully recovered. I have also observed this with different species in the live well of my boat.

Still, I am convinced that fish make it down from above, so you may still be on to something.

[OCF]

One reason the colors can look different can be due to the fish getting brighter during the spawn. In addition, the males will be brighter than the females.

The vast majority of the fish I have caught in Currant Creek appear to be the same as Strawberry strain. I believe the DWR would not stock a different strain in Currant Creek, because as you state, the fish are migrating downstream to Strawberry. They do not want the various species cross breading.

The fish in your first 2 photos appear to me to be in spawning colors.
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[kingfisher82]

Yep, I think you're right. The spot patterns look like Bear River strain. The color threw me off. Pretty coloring for sure
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