Look what Mrs. Cutthroat had in her stomach
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Forum Post Guidelines: This Forum is rated “Family Friendly”. Civil discussions are encouraged and welcomed. Name calling, negative, harassing, or threatening comments will be removed and may result in suspension or IP Ban without notice. Please refer to the Terms of Service and Forum Guidelines post for more information. Thank you
Look what Mrs. Cutthroat had in her stomach
You know I can't resist looking inside the stomach of a fish to see what it had been eating. It can help with lure selection and also reveal some interesting feeding habits. This cutt was caught in 100+ feet of water and took my lure trolled 30' down. Had the surface temp (76 degrees) not been so high, I probably would have released her but she was dead tired when I got her next to the boat and I didn't think her chances for survival after release were very high. The fish was around 19" long and weighed just shy of 3lbs. Her stomach was full and felt hard which got me thinking that she may have swallowed something non organic. Well it turned out to be a nice sized sculpin/bullhead along with the remains of other sculpins/bullheads. You can see in a close up of the remains the un-digested bones the telltale gillplate/horns of another fairly large meal. This is a first for me as I haven't found a sculpin in a Lk Washington cutts belly to date. Makes me wonder if their normal food supply is running low this year.
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Mike Carey
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RE:Look what Mrs. Cutthroat had in her stomach
If it's running low, it doesn't show on that fatty. Nice fish!
"Takers get the honey, Givers sing the blues".
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HillbillyGeek
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RE:Look what Mrs. Cutthroat had in her stomach
Hmm... this could explain why GY color 176 is so popular in WA. (Cinnamon w/black flake)
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Anglinarcher
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RE:Look what Mrs. Cutthroat had in her stomach
I doubt the normal food source is running low, but rather the Sculpins are in large supply.
I find that all fish, and that includes all trout, seem to prefer Sculpins when they can get them. I catch Walleye with them in their guts, Bows and Browns, and even Bass.
In fact, in Montana, my go to streamer fly is a Sculpin pattern.
I find that all fish, and that includes all trout, seem to prefer Sculpins when they can get them. I catch Walleye with them in their guts, Bows and Browns, and even Bass.
In fact, in Montana, my go to streamer fly is a Sculpin pattern.
Too much water, so many fish, too little time.