A cutt above

Dave Londeree was casting near Big Hank Campground, many miles up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, when he hooked the largest cutthroat trout of his life.

The Athol fly-fisherman carried a featherweight outfit, but he battled a heavyweight cutt.

"It was a good fight," Londeree recalled.

He played the fish smartly and reeled it in. From snout to tail, the burly cutthroat measured 18 inches.

"I had a really light rod," he said. "I was afraid it was gonna break me off."

Londeree, an experienced angler and president of the North Idaho Fly Casters club, has seen more and bigger cutthroat in recent years.

On the rivers and tributaries of the Idaho Panhandle, a skilled angler can snag a trophy trout.

"I think the fishing is greatly improved, simply because of the catch-and-release," Londeree said.

About three years ago, Idaho Fish and Game altered the fishing regulations in the Spokane River drainage. Cutthroat are now catch-and-release only on the Coeur d'Alene, the St. Joe and all the tributaries of those two streams.

The department regularly conducts snorkel surveys on both rivers, counting the number of fish in a given area and recording their size.

In 2010, according to the latest IDFG numbers available, snorkel teams counted 521 cutthroat per mile between the North Fork of the Joe and Ruby Creek.

On the Coeur d'Alene, they recorded 523 fish per mile.

"Last year was the highest we've ever had for cutthroat density," said Ryan Hardy, an IDFG principal fishery research biologist. "And we've been looking at that since 1969."

Besides the catch-and-release rule, a number of factors have contributed to the health of the fishery, he explained. Unused roads that would otherwise damage the riverbanks have been pulled out, and the Forest Service has improved riverine habitat.

At a bustling hole near Lost Creek, north of Prichard on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene, Hardy once counted 610 trout.

"The North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene is catching up to the St. Joe in density," he said. "It's a real success story."

Mike Beard roams the riverbanks on a regular basis, guiding clients with Orvis Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d'Alene. Beard, too, has noticed an abundance of big, healthy cutthroat in North Idaho's rivers.

"I'd say it's gotten better every year since they've gone to catch-and-release," the guide said. "We're seeing a better class of fish."

He was up near Big Hank last week, he said, and landed a bunch of good cutts. Due to abnormal river conditions - the result of this year's late spring and heavy runoff - the trout were still swimming in cold water.

"And not only did the fish fight, we caught a lot of fish and never had to revive them," Beard said. "It's just been a blast."

Idaho's official state fish, cutthroats are so monikered because of the bright reddish streak they carry beneath their jaws. In the north, the most common cutt is the WestSlope variety, dappled with black spots and livened with a handsome orange-green color pattern.

Other subspecies are the Yellowstone, the Snake River and the Lahontan, according to IDFG.

Cutthroat aren't huge fish, but they grow fairly large and tend to fight well.

"The nice thing about 'em is they tend to take surface flies pretty well," said IDFG Regional Fishery Biologist Melo Maiolie. "And they are relatively aggressive feeders. They're not real finicky feeders like some of the trout."

The cutthroat is native to North Idaho he said; trout have been swimming in Panhandle waters since the last glaciers gouged the landscape some 10,000 years ago.

For eons, cutthroat and bull trout ruled the rivers and lakes. Rapids on the Spokane River and elsewhere prevented seagoing species like salmon and steelhead from reaching Lake Coeur d'Alene and its feeder streams.

"Almost all the natives of North Idaho are pretty well isolated from the ocean," Maiolie said. "So cutthroat were here kind of on their own."

Now rainbow, salmon, bass and pike share some of the cutthroat's territory. As a result, the cutts are easy prey in warm-water lakes.

But in local rivers, where predators are few, the trout fishery is doing just fine.

Beard has hooked several fish over 20 inches, but it's the 14- or 15-inch fish that fight the hardest, he said.

"They're scrappy, and they're really chunky, and they have shoulders."

With summer fading into autumn, anglers are catching trout on smaller flies. Caddis, pale morning duns and Parachute Adams might draw a strike.

Late-season fishing is fairly technical, Beard said. Fly-casters should downsize their tippets and leaders, and tread stealthily along the riverbanks.

It's not a bad idea to wade the river between runs, Beard added. An angler can reach more water that way, and maybe snatch a few more cutts.

"I think September-October should be some of the best fishing all year," Beard said. "I don't really know of anyplace else in the Lower 48 that has what we have here."