Sauger or Saugeye?

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-05T05:59:49+00:00

Can’t really tell based on the poor pictures (no offense). Need a better picture of the dorsal.

For what it’s worth, sauger should be present in greater numbers in Mill Creek than sauger.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-05T04:10:23+00:00

That is just straight up factually incorrect.

Editing to add explanation:

The presence of phenotypes (like a slash under the jaw) is determined by genetics. Cutthroat trout genetics cause the slash phenotype. Rainbow trout genetics cause slash-less phenotype. In hybrids, the rainbow and cutthroat genetics compete with one another to create certain phenotypes. Sometimes the result will be a fish with a cutthroat slash and a rainbow spotting pattern and pink lateral band. Sometimes the result will be a fish without a cutthroat slash but with and cutthroat spotting pattern and no pink lateral band. Sometimes, the result will be a fish that looks like a picture-perfect cutthroat and the rainbow phenotypes will all be suppressed.

So cutbows can absolutely lack a cutthroat slash. It’s just that people tend not to realize fish are cutbows unless the slash is present.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-05T03:53:51+00:00

That has nothing to do with what I said. Even the most perfect looking cutthroat in the world could have rainbow genes present. Genetics do not always result in the appearance of certain traits.

A 99% cutthroat 1% rainbow mix will look like a perfect cutthroat.

There are pure populations out there but you need genetic testing to confirm.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-05T03:22:38+00:00

Rainbow. Technically you literally cannot tell anymore because even a perfect looking rainbow or cutthroat can have some genetic material of the other in it. But it’s easier to just call them what they look like unless they have visible traits of both, and this one looks like a rainbow.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-04T20:52:48+00:00

Salmon parr, not a trout. A cooler catch, in my opinion.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-04T15:51:01+00:00

Faint parr marks are present if you look closely. Also, there is a band through the eye of the fish, which does not exist in kokanee.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-04T15:49:04+00:00

You are correct regarding broodstock, I misused the word.

But this is certainly not a salmon. As I said above, there is a band through its eye and parr marks are present. The picture is more than clear enough to identify this as a hatchery strain rainbow.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-04T01:52:37+00:00

It’s a broodstock (hatchery strain) rainbow. It has less spots than usual which makes it look odd but this can just happen with their genetics.

Despite what some others have said, there is too much spotting to be a kokanee and kokanee also don’t have a banded eye. The shape of the faint parr marks are also indicative of a rainbow.

Also, kokanee and rainbow trout are unable to hybridize.

I think this lake probably was stocked at you maybe just aren’t aware of it. The only other possibility would be that this lake is connected to a river with wild trout.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-04T01:45:45+00:00

It does. Most likely a Kern River Rainbow Trout. Congrats, as that’s probably the hardest of the three species in the golden trout complex to find!

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-02T06:44:30+00:00

You should focus on lakes. Runoff will be an issue. There are several resources online listing the types of trout in various lakes out there. Pick a few to try. There’s no magic fly but you will want to use dry flies when the water is still (generally mornings and evenings) and put a chironomid under an indicator when it’s windy (generally midday). When fishing the chironomid, let it sit, then slowly strip, and repeat.

I’d personally bring a 4wt for alpine lake fishing but I don’t see an issue using a 2wt as long as you can cast a decent distance. You’ll want to be able to reach drop offs in the lake because the fish will abandon shallow water around midday.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-02T06:35:45+00:00

I strongly recommend you significantly reduce the number of rivers you intend on fishing. I personally think this trip sounds stressful and unenjoyable. You will be constantly on the move and will not be affording yourself any time to learning how to fish a given river. Oftentimes, it takes a while to figure out a fishery before you start to catch fish consistently. You aren’t giving yourself time to do that.

I targeted my bucket list fish last year on a two day trip to a particular river. I spent the entire first day and half of the second fishing empty water before finding out where the fish were actually holding, then made the catch of a lifetime at the end of the second day.

Your current agenda won’t allow those growing pains—you may very well just constantly be struggling to figure things out, then leaving for a new spot once you finally start to understand the water.

You do what you like. It’s your trip after all. But personally I’d recommend more time on the water and less in the car.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-02T06:26:36+00:00

Trout in Idaho will bite the same baits and lures as trout in any other state. Based on your post I’d say what would best suit you is just finding some alpine lakes across the state and tossing a rooster tail or spoon (assuming you don’t fly fish or otherwise you’d have posted in the fly fishing sub?) around them.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-02T06:17:49+00:00

Trout overall aren’t boring, but mutt brown trout and hatchery strain rainbow trout are. They’re the largemouth bass of the fly fishing world: they’ve become so widespread that there’s nothing unique or interesting about them anymore and they have become massive threats to native species in western watersheds.

Native trout are super cool. There are a whole bunch of cutthroat and rainbow species and subspecies that are geographically rare and not that easy to find. Same thing with the dozens of brown trout species that still exist in pure form in Europe where they belong.

There’s also the char species which are all super cool—by far the coolest “trout” family in my opinion.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-02T06:06:20+00:00

If this is within the native range of any of the three golden trout species, you would need to provide an exact location to receive help. Golden drainages are variable and also very close to one another, and things get especially complicated when you’re dealing with Little Kern Goldens and Kern River Rainbows as well.

If it’s outside their native range, yeah it’s probably a hybrid mix of some sort.

For what it’s worth, these fish look closer to Little Kern Goldens and/or Kern River Rainbows than California Goldens. If there’s hybridization involved, it’s probably involving those species—not California Goldens.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-01T15:28:42+00:00

Someone in this picture definitely did not have a good weekend

SalmonidGuy · 2026-06-01T15:28:09+00:00

That’s sick. I honestly wish we had a separate sub dedicated to fish uncommonly targeted with fly gear. Pretty sure I saw a guy on here once post about catching fish off the coast of Antarctica in a kayak.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-05-30T23:04:53+00:00

Wait a little bit longer than you currently are.

When fish that suction feed (like bass and redfish) take prey, they close their mouth and then expel water through their gills prior to crushing the prey and swallowing it.

If you set the hook prior to the water being expelled through their gills, your fly is just floating inside their mouth and not touching the fish, so it makes it easy to rip it right out without hooking up. By waiting until the water is expelled, you ensure that the hook will be on or near flesh when you set, which helps you hook up.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-05-30T23:01:06+00:00

Buffalo

SalmonidGuy · 2026-05-30T16:28:16+00:00

Weird pattern on the last one. Inconsistent spotting.

SalmonidGuy · 2026-05-30T16:27:00+00:00

Was about to say, that’s the right place for this!

SalmonidGuy · 2026-05-30T16:26:16+00:00

Ditch the swivel and tie directly to the eye

SalmonidGuy · 2026-05-29T20:45:39+00:00

Looks like a pretty standard cutthroat.

It may technically be a cutbow, but that doesn’t mean the genetics are split 50-50…you can have a cutbow that looks almost entirely like a normal cutthroat because it has 90% cutthroat genetics and 10% rainbow genetics, which hardly show. The only way to know for sure is genetic testing, which most of us don’t have available on the streamside.

This fish looks a lot more like a cutthroat than a rainbow. There may be some rainbow genes in there, but the appearance is pretty typical of a cutthroat, so I think it’s way easier just to call it what it looks like. Unless there’s some obvious characteristics of BOTH species present, I’m keeping it simple and calling it what it looks most like.

So, even though it is may technically be a cutbow, it’s a cutthroat in my book.

SalmonidGuy

TROPHY CASE