Cutthroat have proven to be more difficult to raise under hatchery conditions so, to fish for them, you have to go where they live. The coastal subspecies of cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) was probably the original species, from which the other subspecies evolved after becoming gographically isolated. The natural range of the coastal cutthroat is along the western slopes of the coastal mountains from the Eel River in northern California to Alaska's Cook Inlet. Where access to salt water is readily available, some of them will take to a semi-anadromous lifestyle and spend some months of each year feeding in estuaries and along the beaches. Some parts of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia can provide almost year-round fishing for them. There are vast differences in the fighting abilities of the various subspecies of cutthroat. Most agree that the coastal cutt (especially if he's spent some time in the salt) has a definite edge and it has been said that, if they grew to the size of steelhead, no one would ever land one.
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