Cutthroat are Stupid Fish

Facts: Now this is a 100% myth!

If you have ever fished for Cutthroat in Flat Creek, North of Jackson, WY, you will know this to be categorically false! Those are as tough to catch as many fish on Earth.

So, why did this myth get started? Most Cutthroat live in environments that Browns and Rainbows could never tolerate. Most Cutthroats live in rivers and streams that get scoured every year by spring runoff floods. Rocks get tumbled, insects and fish get killed by the millions. Where a river like the Hams Fork or the San Juan River may have 3,000 to 4,000 insects per square yard of the river bottom, a river like the Greys or Smiths Fork will have maybe 10% of that number. There are very few dense hatches and thus, little selectivity on the part of this fish.

I’ve fished the Snake River when tiny Baetis are hatching and the Cutts are maddeningly selective. During August, those same fish will go 10ft. for a rubber legged monstrosity whose only similarity to anything natural is that it moves! There is simply nothing else to eat. Where Browns or Rainbows do live in the same water as Cutts, their level of “intelligence” is exactly the same. The lower Hams Fork has all 3 species, as does the Green River. If you catch more Cutts than Rainbows and Browns, it is simply because there are more of them!

Conclusion: Be careful about calling Cutthroat bad names – the fishing gods will punish you with some fishless days on the water!