THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



all the colors are paler and more delicate; and the opercle gleams like a 

 splendid opal. 



There is yet another phase of color. The sea-run specimens which we 

 catch in the Coast streams in the later autumn months are so different in 

 color that most anglers scoff at the statement, from whatever source, that 

 the " salmon trout " is a ' 'Cutthroat." "* * * convinced against his 

 will, he's of the same opinion still." 



I am sure that nearly all our so-called salmon trout are Cutthroats. 

 Though they may seem spotless, pure silver at a first glance, you can see 

 all the characteristic markings — faintly as through a veil — if you will hold 

 the fish in certain lights. The spots are there; but please understand that 

 the spots of all our trout are not on their scales, but on the skin beneath. 

 They are veiled by the rich accumulation of silver acquired in their life 

 in the sea. 



A short stay in the fresh water removes this silver coating, and each 

 scale becomes as transparent as glass, and then you see the spots plainly 

 through the scales. 



Still unconvinced? Well, prove it for yourself. Put a few "salmon 

 trout ' ' in their silver coats into a box of slats and leave them anchored in 

 a river. In a few days or weeks you will find your trout all alive and well, 

 but transformed to fish which you will not doubt a moment to be genuine 

 Cutthroats. 



The peculiar distinctive trait which has given this species its rather 

 objectionable name "Cutthroat," is the pair of red bars or stripes underside 

 the lower jaw or mandible. There is a fold in the skin on each side under 

 the jaw, and when the skin is distended these folds usually show a vivid 

 red bar within, which is a narrow stripe, but still quite striking when the 

 folds are not distended. This bar is redder and wider on the Cutthroat 

 than any other trout; but the Eainbow and Mason's trout both show a pink 

 or red band or stripe in the same fold. This red mark is redder in a Rain- 

 bow when that fish is in his brightest colors, at spawning time, than in 

 the Cutthroat when the latter is in his paler dress; therefore it is often 

 a cause of confusion. 



The Cutthroat in the sea-run or silver condition is almost free of this 

 red throat band; it has paled to a faint pink, and can hardly be noticed 

 except by opening the fold in the jaw. The mark disappears from the 

 Eainbows for months after the spawning season, but seems to be more con- 

 stant in the Cutthroat, and at most times more prominent. 



Will the honorable angler — naturalist — reader accept my proposal to 

 call this fish Clark trout? That name would be brief, definite and logical, 

 and would dispose of the murderous "Cutthroat,'.' which is equally descrip- 

 tive of the Eainbow, and "black-spotted," which confuses the Clark trout 

 with every other western trout, except Dolly Varden. 



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