Where the Cutts Are

[kandersonSLC]

Came across this scientific article as to where Strawberry Cutts are in August and October. The chart below took me a while to decipher, but I think this is what it shows.

In early August, there is enough oxygen at a depth of approx. 40 feet that the Cutts will stay at that depth the entire time during a 24-hour period.

However, by mid-August, the oxygen level at 30-40 feet is sufficiently diminished that the Cutts will venture closer to the surface during dusk to dawn to take advantage of the greater oxygen at the 20-foot and higher levels. However, the water temperature is too high for them to stay, so during they day, they return to the 30-foot level in an attempt to balance oxygen and temperature levels.

Come October, the water nearer the surface both decreases in temperature and increases in oxygen allowing the Cutts to remain in the top 15 feet of water (which is why the fall is such a great time to fish with a sinking fly line that can reach this level in the water column).

Conclusion: During August, you need to get down to that 30-40 foot level to find the Cutts during the day. As we transition into fall, the Cutts move closer to the surface and your techniques can be adjusted accordingly.


Adam G. Hansen , David A. Beauchamp & Casey M. Baldwin (2013): Environmental Constraints on
Piscivory: Insights from Linking Ultrasonic Telemetry to a Visual Foraging Model for Cutthroat Trout, Transactions of the
American Fisheries Society, 142:1, 300-316
Link to this article:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00028487.2012.732650

[liketrolling]

don't know about your chart but the cuts are all over and the big ones are under the kokes the ones over 22' are hard to catch but they are under the kokanee    I go down 50 to 60 feet and catch them.

[Anglinarcher]

I think the chart is correct but not complete.  The big Cutts will go where the easy food is, and Kokes are good food.  While at the proper oxygen levels, they likely don't feed.  While they feed, the Oxygen levels are sufficient, but not good.

The bigger cutties will move up and down to feed, just as the smaller cutties will, just in opposite directions.

[kandersonSLC]

don't know about your chart but the cuts are all over and the big ones are under the kokes the ones over 22' are hard to catch but they are under the kokanee    I go down 50 to 60 feet and catch them.

Thanks for that info. In the middle of the day, we were targeting Cutts but at the same depth as the Kokes, and we didn't have any luck. We'll go 50-60 feet next time.

By the way, thanks for the images of you new sonar and the explanation of what it was showing. Fun stuff. Some day I'm going to get the Fishhawk temp, speed and depth sensor you show on your video of how you fish for kokanee.

---

I think the chart is correct but not complete.  The big Cutts will go where the easy food is, and Kokes are good food.  While at the proper oxygen levels, they likely don't feed.  While they feed, the Oxygen levels are sufficient, but not good.

The bigger cutties will move up and down to feed, just as the smaller cutties will, just in opposite directions.

Interesting observations from you and Robert G -- certainly based on years of experience. I agree it is incomplete as the data is based on the activities of just 7 different Cutts (I'm sure the sensors were pricey). According to the Deseret News, May 30, 1991, 260,000 Kokanee were planted in Strawberry with 100,000 being planted in Strawberry Bay. So it would seem the availability of Kokanee has perhaps changed where the Cutts go to feed.

It also makes this observation about a Cutt's diet:

In summer and autumn 1997, Daphnia and invertebrates dominated the diets of adult Cutthroat Trout, but juvenile salmonids episodically represented 11–44% of the diet. Non-game fishes, including the Utah Chub, Utah Sucker, and Redside Shiner, comprised negligible fractions (<1.1%) of the diet for adult Cutthroat Trout during the study period.

[lovetofish]

Interesting info and data. I love Strawberry in the fall.

[Kent]

Interesting information. Last week, we had the best day I have ever had (131 cutts between two of us), this time of year, vertically jigging in 41' of water. I typically would have fished a little shallower water, but we went where my fishing companion had been doing well.