interesting rainbow

Albatro

I saw a number of bows that were bulging, evidently full of eggs. In the riffles, there were a number of couples in redd behavior.

I think either these escapee bows were confused or maybe they are a strain that does their thing in the early winter.

Saw an angler who was fishing specifically for egg-laden females, so he could use the eggs to upgrade to steelies out of Lake Ontario.

tl
les
 
I would have a hard time believing that those fish are wild rainbows. Check out some photos of where they escaped from:
http://www.limestonespringspreserve.com/gallery/index.htm
I would assume that fish in the raceways did not escape, and that the fish that did were in the natural spring pond areas that would overflow in heavy rains, so they would not have beat up fins like stockies, and also subsisted on natural feeding in addition to the fish food, which the website says is of the highest quality, because they sell the fish commercially to restaurants and grocery stores.

The stream is interesting. Some areas are the usual mud bottom put and take habitat. The habitat that these fish came from was a grevel bottom area that must have been spring fed. I was freezing my *** off on a nice day. One fish I did catch but did not take a picture of was expelling eggs. In addition there was a bunch of them in a shallow gravel area exhibiting spawning activity, and not interested in eating.
 
This fish especially, and a couple of others posted, look a lot like the coastal cutthroats I catch in Oregon. Coastal cutthroats are very heavily spotted like this fish.

Coastal cutthroats and rainbows freely interbreed back and forth and come in all kinds of variations in color and spot patterns between rainbows and cutthrioats.Looks like a Coastal Cut
 
The fish I was referring to is labeled: 4-26-06 035.jpg (66.96 KB)
That fish certainly looks like a coastal cutthroat to me. If anybody has a copy of TROUT (put out by TU a few years ago) check it out.
 
KenU wrote:
This fish especially, and a couple of others posted, look a lot like the coastal cutthroats I catch in Oregon. Coastal cutthroats are very heavily spotted like this fish.

Coastal cutthroats and rainbows freely interbreed back and forth and come in all kinds of variations in color and spot patterns between rainbows and cutthrioats.Looks like a Coastal Cut
Click to expand...


That is interesting Ken, something I noticed on the 15"er that I caught was it had orange slashes under the throat. I thought Cutthroat for a few seconds...prior to splittinit from a$$ to appetite. :lol:

But it had few to no spots below the lateral line and was not vividly colored like Bobs fish. It did have very good fins. Even the caudal (tail) was sharp on the corners. The other two had worn caudal and at least one crippled pectoral and one had a wavy,bony dorsal.
 
Maurice, did you get a chance to use any of the recommended recipes for those trouts?

http://www.limestonespringspreserve.com/recipes.htm
 
The variations are interesting. Mo's fish and Bob's 16"er still look like blue PFBC mashed potato tasting trout. With the exception that bob's fish is very spotted below the lateral line as stated. The one Ken refers to as resembling a coastal cut is interesting. Except for having that nasty blue hatchery tint to it, it does resemble the fish he states.

The other (greener, if I may) fish are either hold overs or wild. They've obviously been living somewhere else where the meal plan has been upgraded. Who knows, if they are stockies from another time, perhaps these fish that got spilled will color up too, assuming there is enough food for everyone.

Albatross asked about spring spawning...if you read the earlier posts again...someone explained how some are bred to spawn in fall. So they're doing what they're bred to do.

This is an interesting thread.
 
You know Jack, that chowder recipe just might make them edible...
 
JackM wrote:
Maurice, did you get a chance to use any of the recommended recipes for those trouts?

http://www.limestonespringspreserve.com/recipes.htm
Click to expand...

No but I plan to this weekend during a get together with my brother. I plan to cook 'em up real fine with a mess of onions and budder on the grill and then broil them...but for now they are in the early stages of freezer burn.

:lol:
 
Wow never saw a bunch of fly fishermen get so excited over rainbows! lol Nothing wrong with it I guess just ya don't see it that often. I myself don't mind catching the bows every now and then. From what I've seen I feel that bobm's first fish he has posted is definitely a hold over or possibly a wild one but more then likely a hold over or one thats been in the water several months. The white tips on the fins is what tells me its definitely been in the water a while. There is only one other rainbow pictured that has white tips but it obviouslly isn't near as colorful. My brother caught a real unusual rainbow this spring...it has about a million spots all over it stomach and all. I'll add it to the thread as soon as I can figure out how to shrink it small enough.
 
your welcome bob. i usually dont post about a stream lke this and horrid it to myself, but there is enough fish to go around for everyone! maurice the fish up there are breeding. ive seen redds and spawning fish. eggs and even sp#rm flying everywhere after you catch them. kinda sick and cool all at the same time. these are certainly not wild fish. maybe confused but most certainly not wild.
 
Here I think I finally got my brother pic of his one rainbow shrunk down enough to get it to post on here. Take a look at all the spots!

IF you click on the pic it looks better.
 
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