disease in little dell

[aquaman]

almost all the fish i caught in little dell this year had thier fins and tails "eaten" away one 8" fish hardly had a fin on him is there a disease here in utah that may be causing this ?
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[icthys]

It sounds like a hatchery fish to me. I've never figured out how they can still swim good without any fins.
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[FlyFishingMoose]

I've caught lots of fish like that in the Uintah's and Jordanelle (all trout) is this from being raised in the hatchery?
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[aquaman]

nope not hatchery eels its my understanding that these cutts are used for brood stock not planted in every year
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[FlyFishingMoose]

Probably need to ask the DWR guys
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[wormandbobber]

No, it is not a disease...these fish sound like hatchery fish. Fish that are grown in hatcheries past their fry period of life often develop fin deformities from living in cement raceways packed side by side with thousands of other fish. Almost any time you catch a cutt that has poor fins, you can bet that it is a holdover from a hatchery...the UDWR is trying to reestablish cutts in many fisheries. To do this, they will hold a fish in the hatchery a little longer than normal and then stock them...as time goes on, though, it is expected that the cutts will reproduce and the hatchery "holdovers" will be weeded out. Rainbows, on the other hand, are often stocked at "catchable" sizes...these "catchable" trout will often have poor fins and are used in many put-and-take fisheries.
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[hedgesd]

Sounds like a you've got a bunch of fin nippers to me. Hatchery fish, unless clipped, will grow back their fins with in a year. Hold overs usually are usually the larger(around 14-16") fish most people call natives. We all know better because unless its a true native, such as Bonneville, Colorado River cuts or a mtn. white fish.

You can learn a lot about fish behaviors from a aquarium.
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