What trout is this?

[steveg137]

Nice fish.

Try keep the in the water before release though, gravel takes their protective slime off immediately and then prone to disease.

Cheers steve

[BillB]

Hi FlyGuy (Dave). Isn't the Kern River Rainbow a distinct strain of fish? I've caught many of those guys and they are, indeed, a worthy adversary! Didn't think about the rainbow/golden hybrid Ed. A real possibility. There are many small waters in eastern Tulare County that contain them and pure Goldens. The Kaweah Flyfishers did quite a bit of diversion work in the area years ago to prevent that from happening.

Bill

[Fly Guy Dave]

Hi FlyGuy (Dave). Isn't the Kern River Rainbow a distinct strain of fish? I've caught many of those guys and they are, indeed, a worthy adversary! Didn't think about the rainbow/golden hybrid Ed. A real possibility. There are many small waters in eastern Tulare County that contain them and pure Goldens. The Kaweah Flyfishers did quite a bit of diversion work in the area years ago to prevent that from happening.

Bill

Hi Bill-

Yes you are correct, the Kern River rainbow is a distinct strain of trout, as is the Little Kern Golden. Both are a cross of o.m. irideus (the coastal rainbow trout) and o.m. aguabonita, the California Golden Trout. The original poster wanted to know if they crossed naturally, or were they a hatchery experiment. It is totally natural. From what I understand, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the LKG and the KRR in the field, but when you look at them in a lab, there are distinct differences. You can figure out which is which by where you are fishing, mostly by the name of the stream included in the name of the trout. The trout in question looks like a cuttbow, given the past stocking of the lake with cutts and some rainbow characteristics in its appearance. It could also might be golden/cutt hybrid, but that's a whole other realm, of which I have very little info.

Cheers!

--F.G. Dave