Juvenile Steelhead or Cutthroat??

What do you guys think? I decided late Friday afternoon that after work I wanted to hit my favorite hole on the clacks river that evening and side drift some eggs for Steelhead from my kayak. Well after a few passes I hooked into what I thought was a wild juvenile Steelhead. After talking a few pics and sending it on its way I returned home that night and was checking out the pics, but what I noticed was more dark spots then I remembered seeing in the past. I didn't notice any dark slashes, under its chin, but also wasn't looking for them because at the time I wasn't thinking Cutthroat. It was close to around 19"-20". Can anyone tell from the spots or any other natural identifiers wether this was a wild Cutthroat or wild Steelhead?   
Rock on!

That fish looks very cutty to me ... though I haven't caught that many of them. It is lacking the hard dark/silver line you would expect on a steelhead.

looks more like just a regular rainbow... pic doesnt seem to show any of the markings of a cutt... and cutts arent usually that big, at least up north they arent.

any clips/hatchery markings? i notice some kind of scar on its back, but .....??  ( hmmmm why arent smileys working now??)

Cutthroat

Cuttie!

Cutthroat, and female...
-Scott

The Clack does have a small population of resident rainbows.  I have caught a few over the years that were definitely resident fish. I will try to dredge up a photo or two.  Same stretch of river where you got that one.  After giving it a second closer look it does look like a cutty to me

that's a nice cuttie!!

ok, so just start callin me Blind Melon Chitlin, then.... i still think it's a rainbow...

I agree with Cutthroat. She had a decent fight in her, even with a med wt IM8.  Its too bad I couldn't use her for AOTY. Trout season doesn't open on the Clack until May 28, but its only fin clipped. She was wild! I have caught a few rainbows on the Clack in the past, but cant say I've caught many cutthroat.

Trophy Cutthroat for sure! Did it jump a lot?

She did put up a great fight with 1 big aerial right off the bat.  Then stayed close to the bottom for the rest. I caught her on a steelhead side drifting rig with a small chunk of salmon eggs, pink corky and single slinky lead drifting thru slow shallow water near the bank.

Looks like a coastal cuttie to me, too. Quite possibly searun.

It's amazing how different the various strains of cutties look.  Not only spots but the physiology. The coastal ones have spots all over, well below the lateral line, and tend to be fairly slender. The "cut" markings can be very faint, almost impossible to see. ("Leopard bows" and some residential bows can look very similar, which can make it tough to get a solid ID from a picture.)

First picture is a westslope cutt from the Methow. Fat and has very few spots, compared to a coastal cutt. The "cut" marks are really prominent.

The second photo has lots of spots, like Jammer's cutt, but notice the pink medial stripe. It's a resident rainbow, also from the Methow.

Which is why, thanks to Hizzonner's 2nd pic and very good description, i was adamant it's a 'bow, the lateral line is faintly pink....missed it someplace, but she did go back in, right?.

I looked at many photos of sea run cutthroat /steelhead on Google Image. There was so much overlap and variation in spot shape, distribution, and coloration in the photos, that I'm going with the consensus of cuttie.

The pink slash on the lower jaw in Jammer's photo, convinced me


kfshr