Alberta - Here comes the TIGER Trout !

[McLeod]

Approximately 10,000 Tiger Trout will be stocked in Alberta later this year.
Where they will be planted has yet to be determined but likely a couple of lakes up north , a couple near Edmonton and a couple down south.
There are still a few hurdles being worked as to exactly when this will happen and anglers will be encouraged to release all Tigers so that they can be caught by others and grow to a bigger size. Congrats to ESRD and the Fisheries Management for rearing this hybrid to further enhance fishing enjoyment for Albertans.

[waterninja]

I agree with Mcleod about being happy about the introduction of Tiger Trout. I've watched some vids of Tiger Trout being caught, and they can grow to a big size, and they are beautifull fish.
I only wish that more then 10,000 were being stocked. That is not a very big #, esp. when spread over multiple lakes. at least it's a start. I wonder if they are hardier then Bows and Brookies when it comes to winterkills? Look foreward to this years stocking report to see where they will be planted.

[FlyTheory]

That's awesome! Where did you get this info from? Thanks for the update 😊

[Talking moose]

Woot!!! Aggressive fish!

[wags]

Well this might be easier than the planned trip to Saskatchewan to fish these! I'm excited, hopefully it's somewhere I can get to!

Cheers

[cube]

Will tiger trout eat perch?

How tolerant are they to the poor water conditions in our stocking lakes?

[The Fisherman Guy]

It's an issue that has anglers divided.

http://outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=244296

[McLeod]

These fish are sterile. They cannot reproduce. There will be 10,000 this year and next year but the numbers may increase in the future depending on a number of factors. They are a hybrid..not an invasive specie. They won't be used to eliminate invasive species such as carp or to clean out
perch lakes. We have lakes with good water quality. When it comes to winterkill all trout are about the same in regards to dissolved oxygen in that anything less than about 5 parts per million can lead to winterkill.
The fish would only be placed in lakes and ponds with no outlet.

[Winch101]

Won't they eat all the Walleye fry , oh wait we can't keep any walleyes

Stock away ....Kyle baby ...


Just an after thought .....what do they taste like ......cause
Some of those river rainbows are a little suspect .

[Flieguy]

I am 100% behind this, tiger trout are awesome. Hopefully some size limits or something will be in place so that they will actually grow rather than being devoured left and right by the army of anglers that results from southern Alberta's lack of waterbodies.

[Redfrog]

It's good to see something being done.

Invasive, non native, hybrid, is that like assault rifle, carbine?

It depends on which side of the fence you sit, what you call it.

[curtis_rak]

I like it. Hopefully will be lucky enough to catch one some day!

[J D]

Never a fan of investing in stocking sterile fish as they will never become sustainable and need to keep investing $ into restocking.

Personally would like to see $ invested in boosting native stocks

I will agree catching tiger trout would be interesting

[Crankbait]

Originally Posted by J D

Never a fan of investing in stocking sterile fish as they will never become sustainable and need to keep investing $ into restocking.

Personally would like to see $ invested in boosting native stocks

I will agree catching tiger trout would be interesting

I agree with you.

it's sorta like building wave pools next to a beach.

[goldscud]

Trout stocking mostly happens in lakes where there isn't any reproduction in the first place. Whether rainbow or tiger won't change much.
Rainbows are already eating little carp in Blood Indian, Tigers would like them too.
To enhance native populations you would need to collect eggs and sperm from that watershed so that you are not causing genetic pollution from another watershed. Best to continue with the genes adapted to that specific watershed.
This would make for a very expensive stocking program

[pikergolf]

Anyone have a link?

[Bhflyfisher]

Originally Posted by Flieguy

I am 100% behind this, tiger trout are awesome. Hopefully some size limits or something will be in place so that they will actually grow rather than being devoured left and right by the army of anglers that results from southern Alberta's lack of waterbodies.

With how expensive they are to raise/stock, you'd think there would be some sense in limiting their harvest.... if theres any harvest at all. Otherwise its just a bloody waste of time and money.

If all goes as planned 4 years time from now we should start seeing a good tiger trout lake or two... Assuming the stocking numbers aren't totally effed.

[st99]

Originally Posted by J D

Never a fan of investing in stocking sterile fish as they will never become sustainable and need to keep investing $ into restocking.

Personally would like to see $ invested in boosting native stocks

I will agree catching tiger trout would be interesting

x2, it sounds like wasting money to me

[TROLLER]

I sure would like to see them put a catch and release on them similar to the Bull trout.

Most trout lakes that are stocked the people that fish them generally keep everything from 6 inches and up.

The chance to one day catch a large Tiger is very exciting. Reminds me of the days you could catch a big Gerard in Crawling Valley.

[Okotokian]

I know very little about the species. Are they at all native to Alberta? If not, this seems to run a little counter to the general trend of trying to protect or re-introduce native species. Seems contradictory to be bringing in new trout species on the one hand, and trying to run an eradication program to get rid of a trout species (Brook) that had been introduced earlier on the other.

[Double-Eh]

It seems like there are too many factors to make it worth the time and effort.
I would want them in an isolated waterbody so they won't meddle with native fish food sources or reproduction cycles, after all they grow fast so they have to eat, a lot I would imagine. So they get put into water bodies where they will winter and summer kill in many instances. So they may as well be caught and kept that season or they will just die anyhow. And in turn though the grow fast, they will have a very limited time to do so and need to be replenished next year.

I suppose its no different than rainbows in hermitage pond and similar water bodies. But then why change how things have been done for those ponds unless Tigers are cheaper.

I re-echo the preference to seeing native species better stocked, monitored and supported with the limited SRD funds in a manner where the goal would be to render the populations self-sufficient.

[Jayhad]

I'm very excited about this, I have travelled 1000ks to get into Tigers, they are super aggressive, very ascetically pleasing and crazy fun to fish for. In Manitoba people come from all over spending money to catch tigers, this is positive to me.

[Flieguy]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

It's good to see something being done.

Invasive, non native, hybrid, is that like assault rifle, carbine?

It depends on which side of the fence you sit, what you call it.

no, hybrids are sterile by nature 99.99% of the time (like a mule). and most of the time even if they can produce offspring, the offspring will be non-viable (mutated or messed up in some other way).

As for non-sustainability of it, not many trout stocked in pothole lakes actually reproduce anyway, otherwise why would we have to throw 200 000 rainbows into chain lakes every year?

I've caught tigers in the states and they are a wild ride. Sort of the trout equivalent of a pike. They'll slam a lure or streamer and fight like a bee-stung wolverine

[goldscud]

Crawling valley trout were not Gerrards...just regular rainbow stockers and Bow fish that grew with unlimited food resources.

[CanadianBadass]

I may be wrong, But I heard a rumor that Hasse is getting them ! and no I am not joing lol !

[dmcbride]

So how big can they get if given the chance? In Alberta.

[Redfrog]

Thanks Flieguy

[GummyMonster]

There was a recent article in AO mag about the author touring the Cold Lake fish hatchery.The Tigers were already grown and they were looking for a home for them. They must have cleared the Alberta paperwork.
I can't see a bad outcome.Hopefully they have a zero limit for awhile to let them get some size.
Personally, I feel we should stock almost any fish that would survive winter in lakes with aeration . Wouldn't it be great to fish for crappies, bass,etc as well as the half dozen species we have here now.
With all the money spent by and to support industry in this province, the cost of stocking fish is a drop in the overall bucket.JMO
Ken

[spinN'flyfish]

kind not related but cutbows seem to thrive quite well, as hybrids i wonder if they're sterile as well............. and great to hear of a new variety of fish to be stocked

[Alberta Bigbore]

Looking forward to this. Only caught them in Manitoba.