Cutthroat...?

[Pendagger]

Does anyone think this native Bow has some Cutthroat in him?

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[DocSpotty]

I would definitely say "yes". It appears to have a pretty intense red mark on its "throat". Also the spotting pattern is much more reminiscent of cutthroats than a rainbow. Could easily be a cutbow. Usually small cutts don't have the intensity of the red band you see on this cute little fish.

Brian

Where was it caught?

[Pendagger]

It was caught in a small lake off the 108 (Walker drainage), a couple other interesting fish from the same place...

A nearly spotless Bow

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Golden Hybrid

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Golden

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[Troutman65]

Nice trout :Envious:

Thanks for posting up

[Natural Lefty]

Did you catch all of those in the same lake?

Here are my 2 cents on the IDs of your beautiful trout.

I am not sure what the first one is. I think it is either a Cutt-Bow or a Golden-Rainbow Hybrid. The next picture, I believe, is actually a "Silver Phase" Golden Trout, which happens when they live in deep water. Rainbows never have so few spots. I agree that the next one is probably a Golden-Rainbow hybrid (unless it's another Silver Phase Golden), and the last one appears to be a Golden (although a bit spotty for a Golden).

IDing these fish can be really difficult, especially when they are hybridizing.

[Sierra_Smitty]

This is a very difficult ID to make.....practically impossible with just a visual.

[Pendagger]

Thanks for the input guys (great possible ID's Lefty)...yes, all caught in the same small lake (it's actually pretty shallow, but at considerable altitude). I'm sure all these little buggers do is swim, eat and hump each other so not surprised at the hybridization over time. I found it through a tip from an old timer...promised to keep mum on the location as it's so small.

[Sierra_Smitty]

It was caught in a small lake off the 108 (Walker drainage), a couple other interesting fish from the same place...

A nearly spotless Bow

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Golden Hybrid

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Golden

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All three of these appear to be Goldens to me - I've seen color variations nearly matching all three of those fish in bodies of water I know to only hold Goldens.

I think I know the lake you caught them at....but I won't dare guess at the name online. Since you need to keep the location quiet go to this link and look up the name of the lake you caught them in. The DFG has done extensive sampling at all lakes outside of the national parks and has species information available online now....cool tool.

http://imaps.dfg.ca.gov/viewers/fishing_guide/app.asp

[DocSpotty]

You know looking more closely at the photos......I have to agree with Sierra Smitty that these are all basically golden trout but with some obvious introgression of rainbows somewhere in their past. There are virtually no areas with absolutely pure strains of golden trout now except for an area of Volcano Creek from recent genetic studies done.....it's really sad we've messed up native trout so badly.

Brian

[Pendagger]

Thanks Smitty & Doc. Hey Smith...that's an excellent tool, thank you! I've been a little obsessed with discovering new places through google earth. This is a great addition for targeting certain fish.

[Natural Lefty]

Pendraggon and others, if these fish were all caught from the same lake, I guess that there were no Cutthroat genes in the gene pool. Rather, notice how Goldens have red all along their undersides, including under their throats. The fish in the first picture, I guess, probably inherited the red under its throat from Golden Trout ancestors. Also, notice the sparse spotting on all of these fish, as well as the coloring on their sides, which all suggest Golden Trout heritage. I would say that the gene pool in this lake seems to be primarily Golden Trout, mixed with some Rainbow, which pretty much agrees with Doc Spotty's assessment, but disagrees with Sierra Smitty's idea that they all are basically Goldens. To me, fish numbers 2 and 4 look pretty much like Goldens, while fishes number 1 and 3 look definitely like Golden/Rainbow hybrids.

I am not sure about the general mixing of Goldens and Rainbows nearly everywhere that Goldens have been stocked. Many places have what look like purebred Goldens, but they might have a little bit of Rainbow heritage in them. Perhaps a few Rainbows got into Cottonwood Lakes before the DFG started spreading the Goldens around. I do know that the two varieties have hybridized in many places.

[Sierra_Smitty]

Thanks Smitty & Doc. Hey Smith...that's an excellent tool, thank you! I've been a little obsessed with discovering new places through google earth. This is a great addition for targeting certain fish.


Between my National Geographic TOPO! program and the DFG data tool - I'm pretty much addicted to finding new routes and lakes which may hold the wild trout of a lifetime. Gotta love it!!!! If we can't be out hiking or fishing all of the time, at least we can be thinking about it! hahahahahahaha!

[Pendagger]

Roger that!

[DocSpotty]

Pendagger....you are exactly right about introgression of rainbow trout genes into the Cottonwood Lakes population of goldens. For decades it was thought to be a pure strain of golden trout but recent genetic studies show that some rainbow trout were inadvertently mixed in with the goldens a long time ago....the rainbow influence is not great at this time but the rainbow traits sometimes get manifested. The stocking of hatchery rainbows everywhere for nearly a century has had some devastating effect on native trout populations.

Brian

[Pendagger]

Hey Brian, completely agree about Cottonwood Lakes. These fish were caught 150 miles north of the Cottonwoods...same deal though, the integration of hatchery trout is just about everywhere in the Sierra. That said, still a beautiful place to hunt for interesting fish, native, hybrid or hog.