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[Colersmom]

Just wondering, what are some good cutthroat trout and whitefish baits?

Thanks

[Wiseguy]

Whitefish have small mouths. Small soft beads are a good bet when fishing for whitefish. Cutthroat love a well presented fly that resembles a fry imitation such as a rolled muddler. If your using bait then I would suggest a single egg. Tight lines.

[spoiler]

worms!

[RalphH]

all the cutthroat in local streams are wild and have to be released. Choose your terminal baits wisely to ensure they actually survive. 

[Knnn]

^^^^ this.  Worms are probably the most effective bait, apart from imitation fry at the right time and place.  However, worms have a very high risk of being inhaled by cutties, with a commensurate increase in mortality.  Spinners and flies probably represent the lowest risk.

[clarki]

Agreed with Knnn and Ralph. I would add small spoons and jigs (both in the 1/8 oz size) to the lures that are very effective for cutthroat, but don't have the deep hooking risk that you get with natural baits.
While you are legally permitted to use natural baits to fish for cutthroat, it's best to avoid it if you can.   

[RalphH]

When I was younger, I fished with bait, particularly worms for years. This was back 50+ years ago when there were far more cutthroat than now. IME I have caught far more cutthroat using a fly like a woolly bugger or a bait fish pattern than I ever did using bait. I would think a small marabou jig would be very effective since that and a woolly bugger are very similar artificial baits.

[wildmanyeah]

A coworker does well fishing with worms on a slip weight off the bottom, just cast it out let it float up a bit hold your rod up with a stick and chill

[clarki]

I would think a small marabou jig would be very effective since that and a woolly bugger are very similar artificial baits.

I only started fishing micro jigs intentionally for cutthroat a couple of years ago and man, is it super effective
About the same time ago, I also started beading with my flyrod and an indicator during the fall months. I approached this technique with a high degree of confidence knowing that cutthroat were feeding on eggs and I was "matching the hatch". However in consecutive years and in different spots on the same system, the bead drew no interest at all. However, when I switched over to my ultralight spinning rod and micro jigs, I caught multiple cutthroat in the very same water that I had just beaded through. No doubt my beading/nymphing skills needed improvement, but I was super surprised how many cutthroat I fished over that ignored my egg imitation but were on the jig on the first cast. Now I always pack along my spinning rod and jigs to run through a piece of water after I flyfish it with streamers or eggs. Undoubtedly as I get better at ff'ing I won't need to bat clean up with jigs!

Good point about the similarities between a marabou jig and a wooly bugger. I have good success with a sparkle leech tied with pearl chenille but I rarely fish a wooly bugger. I think I'll try that more often...

This young VI angler fishes jigs a lot and catches large numbers of cutthroat. However, something that he does with good results, that I have yet to try, is fishing for trout in lakes with jigs. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoaasjw_HzcjWOQLl9tI8kQ

[RalphH]

Well it doesn't have to be a wooly bugger. It could be a sculpin style pattern or a bunny strip fly like a zonker. I mentioned the wooly bugger since I have fished it a lot and it is arguably one of the most popular fly patterns world wide. Most think it is a streamer or leech pattern but was originally tied to imitate a helgrammite  nymph (dobson fly) which looks very much like a stonefly.

Dave Jensen has a trio of very good videos on fishing wooly buggers done in conjunction with Orvis; active retrieve like a streamer, dead drift like a nymph and tight line nymphing with an indicator. Here is a link to the first one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDdh4iVnx5s you'll have it to adapt to BC conditions. You can also swing a WB.

I've never fished beads though I have done well with yarn eggs (glo-bugs). Advantages that a jig or fly like a wooly bugger has are an active retrieve making it more obvious and being visible from a greater distance than an egg. If used in a stream that doesn't have a large salmon population trout may not be so much on the look out for eggs. The reverse is also true. Too many eggs makes for difficult fishing. Small bait fish provide a good sized food package worth the effort to chase down. you may also need to match your egg imitation to the specific kind of egg - chum, coho or pink etc since they are slightly different in size and color. Most eggs available are also water hardened so they will be an opaque pink and they are dead. They also may be rancid. You need to know where the trout are laying. They likely won't move far to grab an egg. My experience is I would often catch a few to several coastal cutthroat in the same pool, run or seam when fishing an egg and have to cover a lot of water to find such a group. Trout also seem to get sick of a constant egg diet and will relish a chance at a sculpin, nymph of even a dry fly when a hatch is on.

[chief]

Have had good success fishing troutbeads under an indicator for cutties  in the fall on Mid Island rivers since retiring over here . Previously I fished glo- bugs on rivers  like the the Thompson + Birkenhead but was not happy about the number of fish hooked deep . Big plus since switching to beads is I have never had a deep hooked fish which is a big plus IMO. Often when fishing in behind spawning salmon you will hook up with a big chum on trout gear which can be a bit of a work out . The ones I caught this year were caught in the mouth and easily released .

[RalphH]

never had that problem though I have heard the same complaints re; the Birkenhead and other interior streams. In close to 30 years only had one cutthroat hooked deep even then I was able to release it with no apparent bleeding. I've had more fish deep hooked on dry flies.

[danielk]

Bacon works well.    Everything likes bacon

[santefe]

Used to use a small tied down minnow on a fly rod in north shore burred inlet.
Worked pretty well then.

[fishingIsCool]

Has anyone tried the Harrisnriver? I hear there are lots of cutties this time of the year.