Tiger trout sighting.....debate continues

[krayfish2]

A few years ago, I put up some photos from various guide sites that showed several tigers being caught from the Upper Delaware system over the last 15 years. Some of the fish were quite large.

Responses ranged from "stockie" to "wild".

Here are my thoughts......
The Upper D contains wild browns in almost every part of the system. A majority of the feeders contain wild brook trout. Both species utilize the same waters for spawning. I'm thinking it's accidental that these tigers are created but I'm aware of them being caught from the top 1/3 of the WB, Lower WB, Upper Main, Middle Main and Lower Main.

I'll now add Lower EB to that list. My nephew took this fish on Friday during our float. Good looking fish, strong and no real way to know if this is an escapee from somewhere or a wild fish. It was caught kinda in the middle of nowhere though. At any rate.... it was pretty cool and a one in a million catch.

 

[TJones]

Awesome fish!

 

[Jaybird]

That's a super clean looking fish ,ND wouldn't doubt it being wild . Last year my brother caught a 13 in Brookie at bard Parker ..... This past week I caught stockie browns in deposit , nature finds away .

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Stocked wild

 

[ryansheehan]

That's a great looking fish!

 

[Fly-Swatter]

nNice! The close-up of the head almost has a smallie look to the color and pattern. Really cool fish.

 

[wildtrout2]

Just a mishandled stockie. Pretty fish though.

 

[bigjohn58]

wildtrout2 wrote:
Just a mishandled stockie. Pretty fish though.

lol I was thinking the same thing! I see more hands then fish. Too hard to tell. I need to see more of the fish but I'm guessing stockie.

 

[foxfire]

Fly-Swatter wrote:
nNice! The close-up of the head almost has a smallie look to the color and pattern. Really cool fish.

Ha! I thought the same!!

 

[mcwillja]

Im guessing by the size and how clean that looks including the fins that's most likely a wild fish.

 

[Swattie87]

Nice Smallmouth.

Good Wilson from Home Improvement pose by your nephew Kray while holding the Bronzeback as well.

 

[FarmerDave]

Fly-Swatter wrote:
nNice! The close-up of the head almost has a smallie look to the color and pattern. Really cool fish.

I was thinking the same thing. Glad to know I wasn't the only one.

Frankenfish.

 

[albatross]

Great fish. I agree with your thinking that it's likely wild.

 

[DavidFin]

Only Tiger I've gotten was on the Main Stem of the D, was just shy of 20"s. That year it was one of 3 in that size range that I heard of being caught, which led people to think they were stocked. Beautiful fish either way.

 

[vanorvis]

The tiger trout is a sterile, intergeneric hybrid of the brown trout and the brook trout. The name derives from the pronounced vermiculations, which evoke the stripes of a tiger. Wikipedia

The tiger trout is a kind of fish that is born due to the breeding of male brook trout with female brown trout. The hybridization process occurs when the male sperm is fertilized with the female eggs. The sterile game fish is known scientifically by the name of Salmo trutta x Salvelinus fontinalis.

I use to fish a private stream that raise there own trout and they would "make" and stock tigers.
I'm pretty sure they are all stocked.
But I guess it could happen in nature...

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

It does. No guessing.

 

[troutbert]

Tiger trout certainly do occur in the wild. The PFBC finds some electrofishing. And I've caught a few myself.

The question is whether or not the ones in the Delaware are wild. I don't know, but I think it is highly unlikely.

The Delaware has stocked tributaries.

 

[DaveS]

I don't think it matter if Wilson, er I mean, Donavan's fish is stocked or wild. Its a pretty cool fish that's fairly hard to come by, on a river that has handed my plenty of humble days where ANY fish would have been fantastic.