Golden Trout

[okflyfisher]

Yesterday on the Blue River in Se Oklahoma I caught 4 lb Golden Trout. It was bright gold and had a faint rainbow trout stripe down its side and had the shape of a triploid trout ( very wide ). The Blue River is not a year round trout stream so the fish had to be stocked.Does anybody know why a golden trout would be stocked in this river? We don't have any trout hatcheries in Oklahoma So the trout must come from Arkansas? Are they a natural variation of hatchery fish?

[Panman]

I would suggest that you caught an albino rainbow trout.

Tim

[okflyfisher]

Thanks Panman your suggestion of an albino trout led me to the answer although its seems odd it go stocked in Oklahoma

Albino Rainbow Trout
Albino trout, like blue trout, are another rare genetic anomaly. Because of a different kind of genetic quirk, albino trout lack the ability to color themselves normally. Albino trout are different from blue trout in several ways: Albino trout are just as vibrant as other trout. They can also reproduce, but getting more albino trout is rare and unpredictable. All trout species can produce albinos.

Golden Rainbow Trout
Golden rainbow trout and the related palomino trout are genetically manipulated fish. In 1954, the West Virginia Conservation Department discovered a single rainbow trout that was partly normally pigmented and partly gold. West Virginia developed the fully golden strain, and by the 1960s, that strain became popular among anglers. In the 1960s, the Commission began producing and stocking the gold-colored palomino trout. The Commission now raises and stocks a slightly different strain, the golden rainbow trout. The rarity of that one partly golden fish was
just as uncommon as albino and blue trout.
Golden Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss
Species overview: The golden rainbow trout is a gold-orange rainbow trout raised under artificial fish culture conditions and stocked as a novelty for angling sport. The golden rainbow was developed from one fish, a single female trout with a genetic mutation that gave her a mixed golden and normal rainbow trout coloration. She was found in the West Virginia hatchery system in 1954. Through selective breeding with regularly marked rainbow trout, an all-gold, golden rainbow trout was developed. In 1963, this fish strain was popularized as the ?West Virginia Centennial Golden Trout.? Pennsylvania and other states hybridized the pure strain of West Virginia golden trout with normal rainbows and produced palomino trout, which were true genetic palominos. Palomino trout were first stocked in Pennsylvania in 1967. Since then, the genetic strain in Pennsylvania has weakened, but in recent years the hybrid was selectively bred back closer to the stronger, better-colored golden rainbow trout. Although palominos were stocked as both average-sized and large trout, today?s golden rainbow is raised only to trophy size for anglers and stocked throughout the state.

The golden rainbow trout is a different species than the golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita) of some California streams. In fish hatcheries, the rainbow trout has occasionally produced other unusual genetic mutations, such as the blue rainbow trout, whose body color is sky-blue.



Identification: Golden rainbows are a deep golden-yellow in body color, with pinkish lower fins, pink or red tones on their cheeks and with the rainbow?s reddish lateral stripe. There is no spotting on the body or fins. The Pennsylvania record golden rainbow trout is over 11 pounds.

Habitat: The golden rainbow trout?s habitat preferences are identical to those of the normally colored rainbow trout. It is stocked throughout the state in appropriate trout waters. No rainbow trout or golden rainbows are planted in the Lake Erie watershed.

Life history: The golden rainbow is reared in fish culture stations. Spawning in the wild is unlikely, because golden rainbows are highly visible in streams both to anglers and predators like blue herons and ospreys. Golden rainbows and palomino rainbows grow larger and faster than regular rainbows. They have ?hybrid vigor,? a trait often seen in crossbred plants and animals. Their food preferences are similar to those of other trout.

[biot midge]

They are stocked in all the winter trout fisheries here. I call them PMR's (pale mutant rainbows.)
Steve

[okflyfisher]

The golden ones are beautiful. My Buddy was going nuts as he looked at it in the net

[Big Bad Wulff]

Next time carry a digital camera

[crcaddis]

Spawning in the wild is unlikely, because golden rainbows are highly visible in streams both to anglers and predators like blue herons and ospreys.

Judas trout...