Can someone help ID this fish for me.

[gcban]

Caught this in Lake WA a few days ago and released it. Looked like a sockeye to me but after looking at the picture on my phone I noticed the spots on both lobes of the tail. Closest I have been able connect it to is a pink salmon but it's missing the black spots on the back. Thanks! -G

[G-Man]

That's a nice cutthroat trout. The lack of body spotting is probably throwing you off, but it's not a salmon. Pinks have irregular shaped spots on the tail and their mouth will have a bit of grey/black color in it.

[gcban]

Thanks G-Man, the other thing that threw me off was the size. This thing was huge and heavy, bigger then any sockeye I have ever hooked in Lake WA. Figuring it was a nice big sockeye after it came to the surface, I just wanted to get the hook out of it and return it safely back into the lake. Only after checking the picture I took of it on my camera did I see the spots on the tail. I never realized cutts in lake WA got this big, wow! Thanks again for the help. Gary

[G-Man]

by now the cutts have put the weight back on after the spawn and those 20" 2.5 lb fish are now in the 4 - 5 lb range. Was out today and picked up several fish that looked like footballs, there is a lot of food in the lake this year.