N  amed for the red streaking in the skin under the lower jaw, cutthroat trout seen in the water can be mistakenly identified as the similar-looking rainbow trout. The cutthroat’s reddish belly and throat become brighter during spawning. Females excavate spawning nests (redds) with their tails in late spring or early summer. There are several subspecies of cutthroat; some populations are coastal, others are freshwater residents and some travel between the brackish estuaries and the fresh-water tributaries.