Alberta - Here comes the TIGER Trout !

[tight line]

Originally Posted by Luxor

I see your point.
At least it's a good fighter and that counts for something.
And it's in the trout family so that's good too.

Cant wait to hook into one!!

[MK2750]

Struble Lake would be absolutely perfect for these critters. It use to be a favorite until many years of over stocking ruined it. I often drive by on a Saturday or Sunday and there is seldom a fisherman. This lake does not winter kill and is full of naturally producing minnows and diverse aquatic insects. They could survive for many years eating stunted stocker rainbows.
The surrounding area lakes and streams are over fished so the pressure could be reduced as well.

[Fishfinder]

Originally Posted by schmedlap

Unless you smoke them, most trout caught out of stocked lakes in AB are not good eating, in any sense. I remember my small boys eagerly wanting to try some stocked rainbows, just fried up in bacon fat like we would do with brook trout "down east", and them being very disappointed, as I predicted (?). Terrible. Like a mouthful of the mud at the bottom of the lake.
Having said that, Brookies from mountain lakes (ex., Muskiki) and streams, in really cold water, and Cutthroats (back in the day when we were too ignorant to let them all go, places like Wapiabi) from the same very cold waters, and where the food source is primarily minnows are fabulous eating. I don't know if it is the food source or the water temperature which is the bigger factor. I suspect it is both - pike caught in places where they are primarily insect eaters are not very good eating either (?).
I am all for it, but make it C&R. There is no call, at all, for anyone to have meals of tigers, whether or not they are at all tasty. At this cost it should be purely about the sport, and the only way you will get any quantity of large ones in any fishery these days is to prohibit keeping them, and enforce this (good luck on that but...?).
If in fact they prey on perch then I am all for stocking them in Hasse and other productive potholes which have been ruined by the bucket brigade (or maybe it was birds?).

I agree with this opinion. On the taste of stocked trout, I have only enjoyed trout smoked (brookies to be specific).
And on the tiger trout, C&R only(at least for a couple/few years) is the way is the way to go imo. And to take it a bit further, maybe do not disclose the lakes that are stocked with Tigers for a year or two. Let fisherfolk go looking, give the fishies a chance to gain some size and adapt.

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by schmedlap

Unless you smoke them, most trout caught out of stocked lakes in AB are not good eating, in any sense. I remember my small boys eagerly wanting to try some stocked rainbows, just fried up in bacon fat like we would do with brook trout "down east", and them being very disappointed, as I predicted (?). Terrible. Like a mouthful of the mud at the bottom of the lake.
Having said that, Brookies from mountain lakes (ex., Muskiki) and streams, in really cold water, and Cutthroats (back in the day when we were too ignorant to let them all go, places like Wapiabi) from the same very cold waters, and where the food source is primarily minnows are fabulous eating. I don't know if it is the food source or the water temperature which is the bigger factor. I suspect it is both - pike caught in places where they are primarily insect eaters are not very good eating either (?).
I am all for it, but make it C&R. There is no call, at all, for anyone to have meals of tigers, whether or not they are at all tasty. At this cost it should be purely about the sport, and the only way you will get any quantity of large ones in any fishery these days is to prohibit keeping them, and enforce this (good luck on that but...?).
If in fact they prey on perch then I am all for stocking them in Hasse and other productive potholes which have been ruined by the bucket brigade (or maybe it was birds?).

I have to disagree with this post about taste. You predicted that they would taste bad, and then sure enough they tasted bad? I have eaten trout from many stocked lakes in AB and have also eaten trout from deep, cold lakes in BC and quite honestly didn't find much difference in taste, though the ones in BC were ussually quite a bit larger and the fillets much meatier.
Perhaps it was the way they were handled or prepared. Also, if you think they might taste "muddy" then soaking them in milk for a few hours or overnight in a fridge is supposed to remove any "muddy" taste.
Lets face it, very few lakes in AB can compare with the deep cold lakes that you can fish for trout in BC, and the the trout in BC even look different in coloring (much more silver). That said, I for one enjoy the taste of fresh caught trout from stocked lakes here in AB.

[Wayner]

Be careful what you wish for. If Tiger Trout are as aggressive as Brown Trout and I'm hearing they are we should all be aware.
Mary Gregg Lake along highway 40 south of Hinton was once one of the better lakes to catch rainbow trout. In 2012 ESRD decided without consulting the angling population to stock some brown trout in this lake along with rainbow trout. We now have huge brown trout and very few if any rainbow trout left. Brown trout and tiger trout are predatory fish and they will feast on newly stocked rainbow.
The only hope for rainbow trout then would be to stock large fingerlings and hope for the best.
Obed lake east of Hinton has a healthy population of perch with an equally healthy population of brown trout. The brown trout are keeping the perch population under control which is a good thing. Tiger trout would work in this situation as well but I would suggest keeping them away from your favourite rainbow lake.

[saskpikeman]

Tigers coexist with other species just fine including rainbows as they are in mixed fisheries in sask in many places. Splake on the other hand seem to dominate most lakes they are stocked in.

[Esox]

Originally Posted by saskpikeman

Splake on the other hand seem to dominate most lakes they are stocked in.

except when in with perch...

[Kings]

They should stock kids friendly fish like perch, pan fish etc.. Remember kids are the future and they will be interested once they catch fish themselves.
If there is more kids friendly ponds, streams available I guess more Albertan's buy licenses.

[aulrich]

I am not sure what would be more kid friendly than a stocked trout pond except PCR

[Don Andersen]

Originally Posted by Kings

They should stock kids friendly fish like perch, pan fish etc.. Remember kids are the future and they will be interested once they catch fish themselves.
If there is more kids friendly ponds, streams available I guess more Albertan's buy licenses.

Over 1/2 of the lames I the Rocky area are now perched. Perch are 4" long and trout not much better. Few people fish them.
Very few kids - I've never seen one fishing.

Don

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Over 1/2 of the lames I the Rocky area are now perched. Perch are 4" long and trout not much better. Few people fish them.
Very few kids - I've never seen one fishing.

Don

Time for a netting program!

[Don Andersen]

Originally Posted by Kings

They should stock kids friendly fish like perch, pan fish etc.. Remember kids are the future and they will be interested once they catch fish themselves.
If there is more kids friendly ponds, streams available I guess more Albertan's buy licenses.

Over 1/2 of the lames I the Rocky area are now perched. Perch are 4" long and trout not much better. Few people fish them.
Very few kids - I've never seen one fishing.

Don

[deerguy]

Did this wind up happening

[ecsuplander]

As the above poster said browns are aggressive. I have found that Muir lake did not fish as well as past years. Could it be the impact of browns being stocked in this lake. Just wondering if others noticed a similar drop off in the quality of the Muir lake fishery. If this is the case, putting tigers in there may make the problem worse.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by ecsuplander

As the above poster said browns are aggressive. I have found that Muir lake did not fish as well as past years. Could it be the impact of browns being stocked in this lake. Just wondering if others noticed a similar drop off in the quality of the Muir lake fishery. If this is the case, putting tigers in there may make the problem worse.

Could be due to the fact that we had a very warm summer. Muir is a relatively small lake and becomes a nice warm bath tub.
May also be due to the fact that everyone and their dog from Edmonton fishes it now. I'm sure the added Browns just increased the pressure.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by Wayner

Be careful what you wish for. If Tiger Trout are as aggressive as Brown Trout and I'm hearing they are we should all be aware.
Mary Gregg Lake along highway 40 south of Hinton was once one of the better lakes to catch rainbow trout. In 2012 ESRD decided without consulting the angling population to stock some brown trout in this lake along with rainbow trout. We now have huge brown trout and very few if any rainbow trout left. Brown trout and tiger trout are predatory fish and they will feast on newly stocked rainbow.
The only hope for rainbow trout then would be to stock large fingerlings and hope for the best.
Obed lake east of Hinton has a healthy population of perch with an equally healthy population of brown trout. The brown trout are keeping the perch population under control which is a good thing. Tiger trout would work in this situation as well but I would suggest keeping them away from your favourite rainbow lake.

Nope. I'll take tigers anyday over rainbows

[NY2]

Originally Posted by Chief16

Could be due to the fact that we had a very warm summer. Muir is a relatively small lake and becomes a nice warm bath tub.
May also be due to the fact that everyone and their dog from Edmonton fishes it now. I'm sure the added Browns just increased the pressure.

^^ bang on^^^water levels are way down at Muir. That being said its fished very well for me again this year. Lots more smaller ones as well tho this year.

[lambski]

Wayner hit the nail on the head!

[Bhflyfisher]

Yeah the bow river is a great example how browns have totally destroyed the rainbow trout....

So is Patterson Lk in MB. As well as plenty others throughout Sask and Manitoba. Theres a lot more factors at play then some guy behind a keyboard complaining how "aggressive" browns are. Browns are definitely not the cause for the decline in rainbow lakes. On a side note, FFS, we have enough bloody rainbows as it is.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by Bhflyfisher

Yeah the bow river is a great example how browns have totally destroyed the rainbow trout....

So is Patterson Lk in MB. As well as plenty others throughout Sask and Manitoba. Theres a lot more factors at play then some guy behind a keyboard complaining how "aggressive" browns are. Browns are definitely not the cause for the decline in rainbow lakes. On a side note, FFS, we have enough bloody rainbows as it is.

We need all those rainbows to have a feed though. On that thought, maybe we should just stick more brookies everywhere to have a feed

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by Chief16

We need all those rainbows to have a feed though. On that thought, maybe we should just stick more brookies everywhere to have a feed

Why brookies when we can stock triploid Arctic char?

[chriscosta]

Maybe they wont stock em now that we cant have aeration

[Dragless]

Rainbows fight the hardest imo can't have too many of any trout lake imo we are pretty lucky to have all these lakes to fish and explor for free most ppl in the world have 0 trout lakes at their disposal we have so many I'm sure none of us will get the chance to fish every Alberta trout lake.... That's a pretty awesome situation to be in. Thx

[Rikkles Fisher]

Originally Posted by chriscosta

Maybe they wont stock em now that we cant have aeration

That would be the only plus side of them stopping aeration!

[CanadianBadass]

Originally Posted by Ricky7

That would be the only plus side of them stopping aeration!

^--------------- X2

Agreed 100% !

[Frogsicle]

Does this mean individuals will be able to purchase Tiger Trout to stock private dugouts? Also with all this talk about them being sterile, I though most if not all Rainbows that are stocked are sterile? Are there any non-sterile fish available to private individuals and dugouts? We've got a few dugouts around home which are just begging for fish...

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by Frogsicle

Does this mean individuals will be able to purchase Tiger Trout to stock private dugouts? Also with all this talk about them being sterile, I though most if not all Rainbows that are stocked are sterile? Are there any non-sterile fish available to private individuals and dugouts? We've got a few dugouts around home which are just begging for fish...

The demand to stock tigers is high right now, I know of a guy who is purchasing them for his dig outs next year. Not sure from where, but I know they aren't available this year.

[Levy]

In Saskatchewan the government is using Tiger Trout and Brown Trout to keep introduced perch numbers under control in some of their trout stocked lakes. It was explained to me that the perch out-compete rainbows, splake and brookies but not Tigers and Browns.

In the Tiger lakes i fish in Saskatchewan (Some of which are stocked with greater or equal numbers of brookies, browns, rainbows and splake) I find Tigers in good numbers and very catch-able compared to other species in several lakes. After fishing for them they are indeed my favorite fish to target.

If you want to compare and contrast the different species, hybrids and catchability of trout i highly recommend fishing the Gem Lakes in Saskatchewan and surround area. There is also netting and stocking data on all the lakes available online. IMHO Browns are indeed a tough species to fish in lakes (at least out here) and do keep other species numbers down but I don't think the Tigers will disappoint.

That being said here is some pics of Tigers from Saskatchewan




I don't know why the province would start with Tigers. Most places start stocking Splake as a Hybrid and Tigers come later down the line.


Rainbow from Splake Lake