The reason that i am posting this is i was talking to a DWR biologist yesterday and he said that at the end of next year they are going to do away with the stocking program of the albinos, because there isnt enough demand for them.
He said that if there was more demand for them they would be just as cheap to raise as a regular rainbow, but with the low demand they are to expensive to keep raising.
If we still want to see adn catch the albinos we need to write our regional fisheries biologist and let them know that they are wanted (or not)
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I wonder why they are currently more expensive? Did they say?
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Yeah he said that with the lower demand for the fish because they arnt in alot of waters it makes it expensive to keep the brude stock on hand and go through all of the spawning work just for a few thousand eggs
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The only place that I have seen albinos is in the Unita mountain lakes. They are fun to watch swimming around. I have only caught 2 or 3 of them, but then I am a crummy fisherman and don't catch many fish in the first palce. Cost wise: raising natural color rainbows is the same as raising albino rainbows. I have forgotten the actual number, but about 75% of planted trout don't live longer than 30 days. They starve because they don't recognize natural foods, they don't know enough to hide from predators, and anglers take them home. Albinos face the additional di
vantage of being very visible. If they do survive long enough to spawn, the fry and fingerlings get eaten before natural colored fish. For my part, in the long term picture, I can do without albinos.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]The albino trout are just a novelty but the kids love them. I don't think any serious fishermen would miss them if they never saw another one, but it certainly is fun for the little people to actually be able to see the trout swimming in a pond or lake, and that's where their real value is. It would be nice if DWR could countinue stocking the albinos in places that kids are likely to be, like the urban ponds. I doubt that any serious adult fishermen really care to catch one unless they've never caught one before. [/size][/font]
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I have to agree; they are a novelty and kids love them. On the other hand, McLennon has a state record albino in his freezer, and I'm sure that was a thrill. I guess he'd love the change; his record might always stand.
But in some of the higher mountain lakes, as was mentioned, I think they're a hoot to see in the water. And a pleasant surprise to catch one.
Nonetheless, $$$ drives the DWR, just as it does everything else!
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It seems like about half of the fish they plant in the impoundments on the Logan River are albinos. I guess they are okay but I would just as soon catch a rainbow as an albino and would take a cutt or a brown over a rainbow or an albino any day. Thanks for the info from the DWR.
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