I Needed Redemption

[tjsingle]

Since you find the silver one fascinating, here are a few more pics. They're all pretty much the same pic at different zooms, but still....

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The coloration on that brookie reminds me of the salter brook trout along the Atlantic coast, usually they are silver/lighter colored when they return to their streams. Pretty cool how brook trout vary in coloration/spotting.

 

[wildtrout2]

I am really hoping that Mike chimes in. This has to be some sort of weird, rare genetic thing. There was a huge logjam nearby. Maybe the brookie spends 99% of his life in there, so it is adapting. Kind of like critters who reside in caves their entire lives losing their vision and color...

Seriously, though! I can't find any info by browsing the web about silver brook trout. What in the heck is up with this thing. I am so interested. If none of us have ever caught and/or seen a silver brook trout, this has to be a pretty rare thing!

Like I said, a unicorn trout.
In forty years of trout fishing, I've never seen the likes of it.
In the past, we've shared pics of trout that were in very dark, shaded, holding locations on a stream that appeared to be quite dark in color. Maybe where it was spending it's time has something to do with it, but I think, as you suggested, it's somehow a genetic thing. Hopefully Mike will chime in.

 

[dryflyguy]

I've seen some stocked brook trout that were very washed out looking, kinda like that.
But yeah, that's a weird one

 

[wildtrout2]

You not knowing what you actually had on reminded me of when I hooked my first and only wild tiger trout. As I was bringing it in, I said to myself, "something is very odd about this trout", because it was a brookie only stream, or so I thought.

 

[jifigz]

You not knowing what you actually had on reminded me of when I hooked my first and only wild tiger trout. As I was bring it in, I said to myself, "something is very odd about this trout", because it was a brookie only stream, or so I thought.

And that's the thing, the number of locations where a tiger trout could be found are nearly infinite in PA, but yet the fish are so rare. The stream I was in yesterday could have them because, although I have never caught one out of the stream I was in, the stream that this dumps into has browns.

 

[Bamboozle]

Not quite as dramatic a lack of color, but below are two different brook trout caught from the same stream, same year at two different locations, two months apart in time.

You can see the difference in the color of the streambed in both photos:

 

[wildtrout2]

The stream I was in yesterday could have them because, although I have never caught one out of the stream I was in, the stream that this dumps into has browns.

Yes! That's the EXACT scenario that applies to the stream I caught my tiger in. I had fished it for several years and only ever caught natives. I had never seen, let alone caught a wild brown. But, the stream it flows into does have wild browns.
It was a couple years after the wild tiger catch, when I finally caught my first brown, which explained the mysterious tiger trout.

 

[wildtrout2]

Not quite as dramatic a lack of color, but below are two different brook trout caught from the same stream, same year at two different locations, two months apart in time.

You can see the difference in the color of the streambed in both photos:

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I think the amount of sunlight a trout is exposed to has as much to do with it's brightness, or lack of, as what the streambed consists of. JMO

 

[Bamboozle]

I think the amount of sunlight a trout is exposed to has as much to do with it's brightness, or lack of, as what the streambed consists of. JMO

Beats me...

But at this particular stream which for the most part is very shady, all things being equal the common denominator is:

Holes or runs with a light sandy bottom, light fish.

Holes or runs with a dark bottom, dark fish.

 

[jifigz]

Not quite as dramatic a lack of color, but below are two different brook trout caught from the same stream, same year at two different locations, two months apart in time.

You can see the difference in the color of the streambed in both photos:

View attachment 1641241229View attachment 1641241230

I'm aware of this, Bam, and I have caught brookies that run the gamut of spot patterns and colors, but never have I encountered a brook trout that looked anything like the one I caught yesterday. There has to be more at play than just the fish's background/conditions.

 

[tomgamber]

I'll buy my license when i get home and let you know 🙄

 

[nd1001]

I am really hoping that Mike chimes in. This has to be some sort of weird, rare genetic thing. There was a huge logjam nearby. Maybe the brookie spends 99% of his life in there, so it is adapting. Kind of like critters who reside in caves their entire lives losing their vision and color...

Seriously, though! I can't find any info by browsing the web about silver brook trout. What in the heck is up with this thing. I am so interested. If none of us have ever caught and/or seen a silver brook trout, this has to be a pretty rare thing!

This jogged my memory… a year or two ago I spotted a small brook trout that was far lighter in color than the others I could see on the sandy bottom of the pool. I was wondering if it had a type of albinism, but it was more of a pale gray than a yellow shade. Sadly, I was unable to catch it as it spooked under a deep undercut rock ledge which spanned several feet of the stream. Perhaps this was similar to your log jam, and certain fish fade to a lighter shade when they spend most of their time hiding in the dark. I’ve seen brook trout that were slightly lighter in color before, usually in a sandy stream with a light-colored streamed, but this was much more stark.