Does F&W transplant/stock athabasca rainbows ?

[Fishnafterwork]

Hey all .. I have a question for anyone who might know anything about this...

As far as I knew the coloration of athabasca rainbows is unique to the native bows in the athabasca watershed. I know small stocked trout will have this same coloration as fry but the spots fade away as they grow.

So here is my questions:
If the above is correct ( correct me if I'm wrong) & there is a fish about 14" with this "athabasca" coloration in a different watershed than the athabasca , is this a native Alberta trout? And if so how did it get there? Is F&W transplanting or stocking them? Could they have gotten there naturally?

[Speckle55]

Yes they have done some test stocking of Athabasca Rainbows in Hinton/Edson area and my understanding that they went well with some very nice Rainbows size wise(i saw Pic's beautiful colors and big fish).. but no i do not think they are in stocking program yet but have asked local bio to include them .. they are in the planning process maybe?

also the Rainbows in the Athabasca River in Hinton area were tested geniticaly in the Northern River Basin study or other study and were found to be pure..

The person to talk to is George Sterling in Edson office as he is on the Athabasca Rainbow recovery committee and his number is 310-000 if long distance then when prompted call 780-723-8247 but he is away till mid Aug

I personally agree that they should be in our stocking program the fish i saw were in the 7# range will see if i can get a pic to post ..

Where are you seeing these Rainbows with differn,t colors ?

and remember differn,t water sheds and fish in general just like animals have color phases ,, so two fish in one water shed can be totally differn't in looks

Food for Thought
David
ps if you see anything that look's like this they might be mine roflmao
56173

[greylynx]

Yes they have done some test stocking of Athabasca Rainbows in Hinton/Edson area and my understanding that they went well with some very nice Rainbows size wise(i saw Pic's beautiful colors and big fish).. but no i do not think they are in stocking program yet but have asked local bio to include them .. they are in the planning process maybe?

also the Rainbows in the Athabasca River in Hinton area were tested geniticaly in the Northern River Basin study or other study and were found to be pure..

The person to talk to is George Sterling in Edson office as he is on the Athabasca Rainbow recovery committee and his number is 310-000 if long distance then when prompted call 780-723-8247 but he is away till mid Aug

I personally agree that they should be in our stocking program the fish i saw were in the 7# range will see if i can get a pic to post ..

Where are you seeing these Rainbows with differn,t colors ?

and remember differn,t water sheds and fish in general just like animals have color phases ,, so two fish in one water shed can be totally differn't in looks

Food for Thought
David
ps if you see anything that look's like this they might be mine roflmao
56173



Hey Speckle: Is George the guy to talk about trout issues out of Edson?

I used to talk to Rudy all the time, He was a great guy, but is now retired.

Who is the current regional fisheries biologist?



Anyways, you have to love those athabows. A small fish with a big fish atitude.

Cheers:

[Fishnafterwork]

Yes I did take variation into consideration and I am as close to 100% positive as a person can be.... We caught lots of trout all diff species and some hybrids too but when I caught this athabasca bow I just about flipped as i always thought I would have to travel miles to get a native albertan..... We got about 8 of these bows of the over 30 trout caught and it was in a BOW RIVER TRIB too boot

[Dgirl]

On our visit to the Sam Livingston Hatchery this spring I asked about Athabasca rainbows. They were only raising a strain of Virginia(IIRC) rainbows due to better hatchery production. I was told the trout were slated for catch/take ponds.

[Speckle55]

Hey Speckle: Is George the guy to talk about trout issues out of Edson?

I used to talk to Rudy all the time, He was a great guy, but is now retired.

Who is the current regional fisheries biologist?



Anyways, you have to love those athabows. A small fish with a big fish atitude.

Cheers:

Yes..... Rudy was great and Carl.. now George is the area Bio

yep love them we have got some 5# in the Athabasca and wow talk about fighters.. this year hi water they will be in alot of beaver ponds and back water so you may get them anywhere up here

David:)

[Speckle55]

Yes I did take variation into consideration and I am as close to 100% positive as a person can be.... We caught lots of trout all diff species and some hybrids too but when I caught this athabasca bow I just about flipped as i always thought I would have to travel miles to get a native albertan..... We got about 8 of these bows of the over 30 trout caught and it was in a BOW RIVER TRIB too boot

you can get your local bio to check he will send them in to U of A and they will do a DNA if they feel you may be right it would be a coue if they were sweet

these Atha bows up here have a differn,t look allright:sSig_cool2:

David:)

[Speckle55]

On our visit to the Sam Livingston Hatchery this spring I asked about Athabasca rainbows. They were only raising a strain of Virginia(IIRC) rainbows due to better hatchery production. I was told the trout were slated for catch/take ponds.

Yes thats what i was told too..but was hoping that someone was working on getting our Athabasca Rainbow in to our system and that 1 of our Universitys had got a grant to look seriously at trying to get it started.. maybe i should be talking to the New Minister Diana McQueen..

Food for Thought
David:)

[pikergolf]

Yes thats what i was told too..but was hoping that someone was working on getting our Athabasca Rainbow in to our system and that 1 of our Universitys had got a grant to look seriously at trying to get it started.. maybe i should be talking to the New Minister Diana McQueen..

Food for Thought
David:)

They are doing a creel survey at bullshead now and I've spoken with the girl that runs it a fair bit. She said there is a year class in there from the states that is not doing as well as expected. I assumed the rest of the fish were ab. stock, is this incorrect?

[Speckle55]

They are doing a creel survey at bullshead now and I've spoken with the girl that runs it a fair bit. She said there is a year class in there from the states that is not doing as well as expected. I assumed the rest of the fish were ab. stock, is this incorrect?

Check with your local Bio for your/bullshead area dial 310-0000 and ask for the fishery Bio .. but i think they get those fish from where Dgirl said

we have lots of anglers that will know on here give them a minute to read

David:)

[fishman]

They have tried many strains in Alberta pot hole lakes ...they use to use a Idaho strain but switched to a Montana strain.....but hold on they have done some expiermenting but not in moving water....not saying what lakes or what they did but like some of what they did......the athbasca rainbow was in a discussion with rudy in the ninetys ...he was sure the athbasca rainbows would grow to there area ....so they stocked dandarand pond...never spelt it right..it is the gravel pit by the highway east of Millers lake ...well I caught them 24 incher out of there ....rudy was happy....needless to say I have a picture of a 8 pound athbasca bow and the paw marks are not there....I find about 14 incher they loose them.....and like speckle said they are unreal fighters...not jumpers but unreal runs...I will have to dig out the 8 plundered picture

[jrs]

Was searching for something else and saw this thread, thought id add a bit. They are currently developing a brood stock of athabasca rainbows south of Robb. As for size and color, i have caught pure strain athabasca rainbows over 1 kg and some did maintain colorations typical to the little guys. Some turned silver, depends on the individual. They get much larger (as Speckle55 mentioned) but the biggest ive seen were only around 5 pounds. Some look like hatchery fish, others are much more stunning. As for Athabows in the bow drainage, i doubt it. You do get different colorations of rainbows depending on habitat, genetic flukes, and diet though so they may appear similar to their northern counterparts. Ive seen athabows with absolutely no pigment as well, seems to be a rare color phase but pretty neat looking for sure.