Pleasant Valley Reservoir - Species of Trout?

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Hi all! Did a quick trip with my son and wife this past weekend. My son landed the most beautiful trout I've ever seen. It measured a little over 20 inches and estimate the weight to be 3.5+lbs. He caught it in the moving waters closer to the power plant. Fish never left the water and was released promptly after landing it:Smile: In retrospect, I wish we would have pulled the fish out of the water to have taken a quick picture with my son:Sad: However, we didn't want to risk any harm to this beautiful male trout. I've been trout fishing for over 50 years and have never caught a fish with markings like this one. The colors were absolutely brilliant. Bright gold/orange belly with crazy markings. The markings near the head resemble a brown trout. Yet, the markings (stripes rather than dots) near the rear resemble a tiger trout. FYI, I've caught tiger trout in Utah in the past. I'm not aware of any tiger trout being planted in PVR. However, on rare occasions, a brown and brook trout will mate and produce the tiger trout. Any thoughts on the species of this beauty??? Thanks!

Cutbow possibly?

beautiful brown. I do not think there are any brookies that low in elevation there but I am no expert. Super nice catch and thanks for taking care on the release. Probably heading up river to spawn. Will get large fish like that with people practicing catch and release more frequently there.

It's definitely a Brown Trout, probably spawning. I don't think there are any Brook Trout at Pleasant Valley, and probably no Cutthroat or Cuttbows, either.

Thanks for the report what a beautiful fish. CPR is where its at :Big Grin:.
TL's
jig-guy/Bill