Welcome to the club, Patrick. You got into some fine West Slope cutts, for sure. As a species, West Slopes seldom get over 17-18". That 19" fish you landed is undoubtedly one of the biggest ones in the river you were on, if not the biggest. On a species to species comparison, it is the equivalent of a 30" plus bull trout.

Beautiful country, for sure, and some great looking cutthroat water. I'm still thinking about going up to Alberta this fall, so if you have a minute could you PM me with some stream names and campground information from your trip ?? Thanks.

Just a heads up, for future reference. West Slope cutts look up. You don't have to wait for hatches, generally, to fish to them with dry flies. That may not be true for those Alberta cutts, but if you do go back, keep that possibility in mind. Nothing wrong with streamers and nymphs, but for my money the best sight in fly angling is seeing a cutthroat come to a dry fly.

John