Can someone help ID this fish for me.

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gcban
Angler
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Joined: Thu May 20, 2010 6:25 am
Location: Seattle

Can someone help ID this fish for me.

Post by gcban » Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:10 pm

Caught this in Lake WA a few days ago and released it. Looked like a sockeye to me but after looking at the picture on my phone I noticed the spots on both lobes of the tail. Closest I have been able connect it to is a pink salmon but it's missing the black spots on the back. Thanks! -G
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G-Man
Admiral
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Location: Bellevue, WA

Re: Can someone help ID this fish for me.

Post by G-Man » Thu Jul 06, 2017 7:04 pm

That's a nice cutthroat trout. The lack of body spotting is probably throwing you off, but it's not a salmon. Pinks have irregular shaped spots on the tail and their mouth will have a bit of grey/black color in it.

gcban
Angler
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Joined: Thu May 20, 2010 6:25 am
Location: Seattle

Re: Can someone help ID this fish for me.

Post by gcban » Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:25 am

Thanks G-Man, the other thing that threw me off was the size. This thing was huge and heavy, bigger then any sockeye I have ever hooked in Lake WA. Figuring it was a nice big sockeye after it came to the surface, I just wanted to get the hook out of it and return it safely back into the lake. Only after checking the picture I took of it on my camera did I see the spots on the tail. I never realized cutts in lake WA got this big, wow! Thanks again for the help. Gary

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G-Man
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Location: Bellevue, WA

Re: Can someone help ID this fish for me.

Post by G-Man » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:44 pm

by now the cutts have put the weight back on after the spawn and those 20" 2.5 lb fish are now in the 4 - 5 lb range. Was out today and picked up several fish that looked like footballs, there is a lot of food in the lake this year.

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