Trout
Week 2012
We're rollin out with day 4 of Trout Week with one amazing fish! A fish so uncommon that catching this trout would be a true catch of a lifetime. I have yet to land one of these treasures, but Dave Piavis Jr. from PA's Wild Trout has been making a habit of it for years. Take a glimpse inside the secretive culture of the Tiger Trout. The most treasured trout of Pennsylvania.
Stream
Name:------------
Stream
Location:Luzurne County
Features: Pretty secluded, Ive never seen anyone else fishing my section. The biggest brook trout from here is 16, brown trout, 24, rainbow 19,
tiger 18. I've also pulled channel cats, smallmouth, walleye, and
rock bass from this section
Target
Trout:Wild Tiger Trout
Weapon
of choice:Ultra light trout rod with regular mono.
Bait/Lure/Fly:I'll tell you that when you're trying to target a Tiger Trout, it's best
to use minnows, Tigers have a much larger strike zone than the other
trout, and also attack with a lot more force!
Section
of Choice:I'm very secretive about this place, I try to do my best to make nobody
sees me making my way to my spot. I don't park anywhere near it.
X-tra
Info: This spot was passed down to me from my dad, I've caught most of my
memorable trout from here, and have only kept one trout in the 3 years
that I've been fishing it. I feel that if more people practiced catch
and release we could have more places like this in PA, we could have
more spots like this! I also feel like if I shared this place with
people it would lose its magic for sure, sorry you guys, but look at
these pictures. If you had a spot where you could catch these, would you
tell anyone?
For those who do not know, or maybe unaware of this species, the Tiger Trout is a hybrid fish, different from the Golden Rainbow trout that we looked at yesterday. Whereas the mutation of a gene in the rainbow led to the golden rainbow, the tiger trout is a combination of two different trout. Can you guess which two?
+
=
That's right. When a brook trout and a brown trouts reproductive material mix you will end up with a tiger trout. This is generally a happy natural accident within streams. The PA Fish and Boat Commission considers a natural tiger trout possibility "biologically possible, but extremely rare." The PAFBC also tested the waters with raising and stocking tiger trout within the commonwealth waterways. But this program was discontinued in 2005 due to "no biological advantage" of stocking tiger trout compared to the other trout. As a hybrid fish, tiger trout are sterile. They can not reproduce. Instead, all of their energy that would otherwise be used in their reproduce development is used in place to grow. In other words, tigers can grow big fast. Although the PAFBC does not continue to raise and stock tigers, many cooperatives and private hatcheries do.
So what does this all mean? It means if you catch a tiger trout you are a lucky fellow. I attempted to find a stocking scheduled list from 2005 but was unable to track down a legit document. So unless you know of a specific stream and have caught tigers there before, it is hard to plan a trip in solely in search of catching tiger trout. But here are some hints that you could look for that will lead you to a potential tiger area.
- Fish a stream with a high brook trout population. Brown trout are pretty resilient and are in most streams. If you can find a stream with a high brookie population upstream from brown trout, you may have the perfect storm.
OR
- Fish downstream from hatcheries. Fish escape hatcheries all the time and there is a chance that a tiger may have escaped. Remember above when I mentioned that the PAFBC discontinued tiger trout stocking in 2005? The year prior, in 2004, Hurricane Ivan swept through Pennsylvania flooding numerous locations, including state fish hatcheries. A large number of tiger trout escaped from this event and can be found in many streams across PA.
An in-depth Google search may lead you to discover tiger trout locations that are otherwise locked down and under a Masonic Temple by anglers. Otherwise you're search for tiger trout may become a life long endeavor.
Good luck and fish on!
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