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When fishing at Fish Lake last week I caught a trout that I couldn't figure out. It didn't look like any of the species I was aware of being present in the lake. Neither Ben nor I could figure out just what it was. Maybe a "rake" as opposed to a splake? It came closest to looking like a rainbow so I hesitantly entered it into the Challenge as such. Ron identified it as a faded-out tiger trout and I'm sure he is right. I went to the internet to see if I could figure out how tigers ended up in Fish Lake but so far have had no luck. Anyway in my searches I came across an article about fishing for pumpkinseed sunfish in Draper. Never knew we had any of those. Strange fish often pop up in places they aren't supposed to be. We have white crappie and Sacramento perch. Tench were recently caught in Idaho. They drained our local irrigation pond to rid it of invasive goldfish. The list goes on.
So what rare and/or unusual fish have you caught in Utah? Please stick to the realm of reality; we don't want any fish stories here. Far be it from me to engage in such frivolity. If that's what you are after, see my other post.
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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[#0000FF]Because of bucket biology and idiot aquarium owners dumping their overgrown tank pets into local waters it is possible to see almost anything in Utah lakes and streams. Lots of turtles and exotic fishies have turned up over the years.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]One of the most interesting is the pacu...a member of the piranha family from South America. There have been several come out of Utah Lake over the years. Here is a [url "https://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=355254"]LINK[/url] to one such occurrence. And another [url "https://www.ksl.com/?nid=1288&sid=35203795"]LINK[/url].
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[quote catchinon] Ron identified it as a faded-out tiger trout and I'm sure he is right. I went to the internet to see if I could figure out how tigers ended up in Fish Lake but so far have had no luck.[/quote]
As for the tiger trout in FL, they have been there for a few years. They were stocked 3-4 years ago when the hatcheries couldn't produce a full annual quota of splake but put in available tiger trout to make up the difference. I've caught quite a few there the past couple of years.
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[quote catchinon] I went to the internet to see if I could figure out how tigers ended up in Fish Lake but so far have had no luck. [/quote]
did you think to check with the DWR? They are, afterall, the best source of info on these types of inquiries.
They would have told you that a hatchery truck backed up to Twin Creeks and opened a valve stocking tiger trout in Fish Lake.
Sometimes we want to complicate things. Sometimes it's the simple, obvious solution.
2014, 2015, 2018....all listed on the stocking report.
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When I was young (in the Late Holocene Epoch) a local VFW had an annual Snapper Soup charity dinner. I can still taste that wonderful, unctuous soup.
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Of course. I just haven't had time to get to it yet. My next step was to check the stocking reports. I actually DID check with the DWR in that I went to their Fish Lake site; tigers were neither listed as Probable or Possible Catches. Much of the information they have is horribly out-of-date, misleading, incorrect, and/or badly written. IF I had asked for help from the members here it would have been because they are often better informed than the "official" sources. I appreciate you chiming in as you did. I am often dismayed at the questions that are asked on here when it is as easy as checking a website or picking up a phone to get the answer. One thing I like is how generous most of the members here are with their information. I mostly get the "we're all in this together" vibe here.
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I caught something called a "pond loach" or weatherfish in Bountiful Pond a couple years ago.
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