In the Spokane area about 5,000 4"to 5" tiger trout were released into a 47 acre lake near Cheney called Fish Lake. Most of those should reach 8" or more by next spring. They were planted 2-3 months ago. Looking forward to fishing for this new species. Don
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kent Lufkin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 8:22 AM Subject: Tiger Trout Stalk Columbia Basin > This article by Terry W. Sheely appears in the Winter 2001 edition of > Northwest Fly Fishing which arrived in my mailbox yesterday. > > Kent Lufkin > > > >Tiger Trout Stalk Columbia Basin > > > >by Terry W. Sheely > > > >Tiger trout, an exotic trout/char hybrid, are being slipped into > >more than a dozen fertile Central Washington waters, including > >several prominent fly lakes. Biologists have their fingers crossed > >that by next spring tigers will enter the fishery as nasty, > >surface-sipping 10- to 14-inchers. > > > >The experimental stocking is being limited to 16 Columbia Basin > >waters until Washington biologists get a firm idea of how well the > >hybrids will survive, how big they'll grow, and their feeding > >traits, habitat requirements, and impact on existing fish. > > > >Tiger trout are hybridized hatchery offspring of female brown trout > >and male brook trout (char). The predatory name reflects their > >striking golden brown coloration, vivid vermiculated tiger-like > >stripes, and wild strike-fast, strike-often disposition. > > > >Little is know about this hybrid trout. It appears, though, that > >tigers are energetic surface feeders and much more aggressive than > >either parent, a predatory predilection that could endear it to > >dry-fly enthusiasts. > > > >Because tigers feed primarily on insects, and like most hybrids are > >sterile and incapable or breeding, fish managers doubt they'll have > >a negative impact on established trout populations. > > > >And there's a chance they could grow some very large shoulders. > >Nutrients that would normally feed reproductive systems are siphoned > >instead into growth in sterile hybrids. Other sterile fish have show > >phenomenal growth rates. > > > >Biologists are hopeful tigers will reach lunker proportions in > >Washington, but it will take a few years to find out, according to > >Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Region 2 fish > >biologist Jeff Korth, who is directing the Columbia Basin > >introduction. > > > >So far, Korth has limited experimental tiger plants to Grant County > >waters that already support brookies or browns. The initial plant is > >being limited to about 40,000 fish, mostly fry. Few lakes will get > >more than 1,500 tigers this year. > > > >Lakes on this year's tiger plant schedule are Beda, Brookie, Dry > >Falls, Dusty, Homestead, Spring, Creek, Canyon, Lenice, Merry, > >Nunnally, Sage East and West, and Quail. > > > >If enough tiger fry are available from the WDFW Ford Hatchery at > >Moses Lake, Korth plans to plant nearly 7,000 in Upper Crab Creek > >and another 6,500 in the Gloyd Seeps. > > > >Plans by Okanogan County WDFW fish biologist Heather Bartlett to > >plant 500 tigers in a high mountain lake this summer were put on > >hold when the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service raised concerns about > >possible impacts on endangered fish. > > > >This year aColorado Springs angler filed for Colorado's first tiger > >trout record with a 2-pound, 7-ounce, 17.5-inch tiger trout caught > >in a private pond. Ten years ago, 400 4-inch tigers were dumped into > >Colorado's Yampa Basin and never heard from again. "Tiger trout are > >so rare [in Colorado] that there had never been one submitted as a > >record before,' says Robin Knox, sport-fish manager for the Colorado > >Dvision of Wildlife. > > > >In Washington, the tiger trout plant "should best be termed an > >experiment at this point," Korth says, an experiment he'll be > >closely monitoring. > > > >Optimistically, there's a reasonable chance that next spring these > >experimental golden striped tiger trout will be stalking dry flies > >on some of Washington's most popular trout lakes. >
