Is this a Brown Trout?

I was visiting a small southern California stream back in the spring and photographed some of the residents. Although my yearlong California Adventure has been over for months and I may never return to this stream, I?ll just call it Bonita Creek. It's a shame that I found this during my last week in California, after my fishing license had expired.

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Upon returning home, I noticed that one of the pictures was clearly NOT a Rainbow Trout, the typical fish of most of the area streams. At the time, I assumed it was a Brown trout. A recent review of my pictures however, made me raise my eyebrow as I noticed a very distinct white edge on one of the lower fins.


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Is this just a Brown Trout with some light hitting it in a strange way, or is this a hybrid? I am uncertain whether there are Brook Trout present in this stream; they don't seem to be mentioned in the limited literature I can find on it.

Browns constitute 90% of my catch around here and that certainly looks like a brown trout to me. That said, it's hard to get a clear picture of a fish underwater and fish do vary quite a bit in coloration, so I could be wrong.

Looks like a hybrid - tiger trout - brook trout/brown trout mix. From the black and white on the fins and the variegation on the dorsal. Can't say for sure, but that's what it looks like to me.

Waskeyc.

I live In Oregon just a few miles from California. This summer I spent a lot of time fishing in Northern Cal which is a long way from your pretty creek. While searching Northern Cal I found that contact with the California Department of Fish and Game to be helpful in identifying what species of fish were in the waters I was searching. Perhaps you could contact them for info. California Department of Fish and Game. 866-440-9530. WWW.dfg.ca.gov.
I would guess a brown trout. Good luck. Tim

I am guessing it's a brown trout, and have seen quite a few with the white and dark (not really black) edging on the fins. I think the distortion from the water ripples makes it look sort of like a tiger trout. Small stream trout sure get some nice colors though!

I too suspect that this is just a Brown Trout, but wanted to post the picture to see whether this type of fin coloration is typical on Browns. I've never caught a Brown Trout before.

I also know that everyone like a good post with pictures.

That is a Brown. The DF&G here in CA, at one time, stocked Tiger Trout out of the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery, in Independence, CA in Eastern Sierra waters. That was a long time ago and Tiger Trout (cross between a Brown and a Brookie ) are incapable of breeding.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps5a0ce185.jpg

This is a little Brown that came from an Western Sierra slope tributary not far from LA...really bright red spotting...

PT/TB ;)

In my spare time, I'm a self-taught icthyologist. Since I'll be in California next spring (and am a fellow Virginian), just PM the exact location (Lat-Lon is fine, GPS preferred) of that stream and I'll get a positive identification of that fish for you :mrgreen:

Regards,
Scott

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ScottP

In my spare time, I'm a self-taught icthyologist.

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Aren't we all?:D

If you're going to California to fish, you aren't going where I was. I was "stuck" in southern Orange County, had my family in tow, and was working 6 days a week, so unless I could go and come back in a single day, I didn't get to go. Most often that resulted in about 2 hours of driving, an hour or more of hiking, an hour or two of fishing, followed by the return trip of 3 hours or so. A lot of effort for a relative few minutes on the water. I would have loved to spend some time in the Sierras, but they were just too far away.