# Golden Rainbow



## FLYFSHR (Apr 16, 2008)

I posted this short report back in March on another board. Recently got the mount back and just thought I'd share. This is a Golden Rainbow aka Palomino.

On a gloomy day saturday morning we headed out after a fish I've been hunting for 1 1/2 years. The further we drove the worse the weather got. I was a bit worried that the water would be frozen but had to check it out anyways. It is in an area that gets plenty of runoff and with the most recent warming I had my fingers crossed. Upon arrival I saw open water and was stoked. It was a bit nippy and no wind at all. Perfect conditions. 
After a half day of tossing my flies I caught a glimpse of my fish I've been stalking for a long time. He was hiding down deep where the runoff was coming in. He gets spooked if he sees ya and spooked with about every bead head fly I would try to drop. Trying to drop a fly in a fast moving current and get it down to about 7 feet deep in only 3 lineal foot of stream was an all day project. Frustrating none the less.
With about a half an hour till the sun was to set I finally got him to come after me. My reel was singing loud. With the rod bent in half I was afraid he was gonna snap my 4x tippet. Dropping my beer and loosening my drag a bit he was able to run. After about 10 min. or so I finally was able to coax him in. A Palomino 6.5 lbs. 25" long
Wheew...finally I can move on and find another fish. Tightlines 
~FLYFSHR~

[attachment=1:14innudm]Palomino 6.5lb. 25''.jpg[/attachment:14innudm]

here's the fish after getting him back

[attachment=0:14innudm]Mounted Palomino 6.5 lb..JPG[/attachment:14innudm]


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Excellent looking fish man! I love lookin at that pic. The mount looks good too!


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

Very nice mount! Sounds like a tough job to catch that one. Some great memories.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

I'd bet it's pretty rare for one of those (as visible as they are) to get to that size. Good job.


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## mjschijf (Oct 1, 2007)

Wow! That is one hell of a fish. Congrats on the awesome catch. That mount is pretty cool too. I bet that is one fish you'll never forget catching.


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## bushrat311 (Sep 11, 2007)

That's an awesome catch, the mount really looks incredible. Who was your taxidermist?


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

I'm taking it that was not a Utah fish ?


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

I would be willing to bet that the fish was caught in a private pond/fishery...a pay to play fish. Personally, I am not a big fan of these fish...somehow they just look sick. But, to each his own...nice fish anyway.

FWIW, golden rainbows are different from palominos: The golden rainbow trout is a gold-orange rainbow raised under artificial fish culture conditions and stocked as a novelty for angling sport. Palomino trout are a genetic cross between rainbows and golden trout (which are different from golden rainbows). People often confuse golden rainbows from palominos...the fish in the original post appears to be a golden rainbow.


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## mjschijf (Oct 1, 2007)

Somehow, I already know where this thread is going from here... :|


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Easier to say "nice fish" great mount and enjoy.... This one could get locked...


o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| -/|\- -^|^- -/|\-


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## Ifish (Aug 22, 2008)

I will say it "Nice fish, great mount, enjoy!" I too, would like to know who the taxidermist is.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Hey- nice fish- nice mount- nice deal- my only ? and it was an honest ? was - it wasn't from Utah because I have never seen one here. Albino's yes but not a Palimino . But if the last 2 responses weren't directed at me------------- never mind.


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## FLYFSHR (Apr 16, 2008)

Thanx for the replies. No it's not from Utah
W2U- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Trout
I took the liberty to copy the very last sentence.
The golden trout should be distinguished from the similarly-named *golden rainbow trout, also known as the palomino trout.* The golden rainbow is actually a color variant of the rainbow trout.
http://www.lancasterscuba.com/local_diving/palomino.htm

My taxidermist is a guy whom lives one neighborhood across from me. He does the best work (IMHO) and I've seen alot of mounts. As of now this mount makes #14 for me. 
I know I probably have a sickness but I like them. I'm surprized my wife allows me to do it.
My goal in life is to get as many different species as I can. Once I mount a reasonable size fish, I move on to another species.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

I hope this never need to be locked.
There are different opinions on topics all the time.
We all learn from each other.
We can and do agree to disagree here.
By the time this is over, we should all know what a Golden Trout is.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

WOWl That is awesome!


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

FLYFSHR said:


> W2U- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Trout
> I took the liberty to copy the very last sentence.
> The golden trout should be distinguished from the similarly-named *golden rainbow trout, also known as the palomino trout.* The golden rainbow is actually a color variant of the rainbow trout.
> http://www.lancasterscuba.com/local_diving/palomino.htm


Interesting...I could be wrong. But, this is also from wikipedia: "Golden rainbow trout and palomino trout are artificially developed color variants of Oncorhynchus mykiss.[9] Golden rainbow trout are predominantly yellowish, lacking the typical green field and black spots, but retaining the diffuse red stripe.[10] They were developed based on one spontaneously lighter animal.[9] The palomino trout is a mix of golden and common rainbow trout, resulting in an intermediate color. The golden rainbow trout should not be confused with the naturally occurring golden trout."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_trout

Also, I have read this: "Golden rainbow trout and palomino rainbow trout are not sterile hybrids, they are simply color variations of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and should not be confused with the golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita) native to a few drainages in California. It took selective breeding for several generations to result in the development of true breeding golden rainbow trout. Typically, these fish are more of a brilliant golden color than the palomino rainbow trout, which has a color phase intermediate between the golden and normally pigmented rainbow trout."
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/page ... golden.htm

Both of these quotes and other information I find on the net lead me to believe that the "Palomino" and "golden rainbow" are two different color variations of rainbows...

...regardless of who is right or wrong, your fish is a nice one. Did you catch it in a public or private water?


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## FLYFSHR (Apr 16, 2008)

w2u- thanx. the latter of the 2


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

What a beautiful, uniquely colored fish......nicely mounted too.

First.....golden rainbows and palominos are nothing more than color variations of a garden variety hatchery rainbow trout. The initial uniquely golden colored rainbow was noticed in 1954 in West Virginia. The fish was carefully bred and back breed until they had a rainbow which bred true to the orange color. Hence West Virginia pioneered the orange devils...in the 60's Pennsylvania obtained a mess of golden trout fertilized eggs and bred the progeny with good old hatchery rainbows.....the result was a rainbow intermediate colored between a golden rainbow and stock rainbow.....the palomino trout. This seems to be one of the first efforts to artifically select color traits for DESIGNER trout....there have been many since.
I'm sure color variations within breeding populations of golden rainbows and palominos have many color gradients making some fish difficult to distinguish which one is which. You'd have to look for stocking records to know for sure. But these two are simply pigmentation variations of rainbow trout.....Oncorhynchus mykiss.....not to be confused whatsoever with California golden trout....Oncorhynchus aguabonita.

Again.....beautiful fish....

Brian


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## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

I have never been a fan of those fish, but...

I have to say that I really like this fish and the mount. Mounting the biggest fish is so passe. I think that mounting a fish for special reasons other than size is the way to go. This fish has originality in appearance and is large, plus you've hunted it for 1 1/2 years so it had to be really rewarding for you. Awesome mount! I've got my first fish to mount with a taxadermist now and can't wait to get it back!


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## FLYFSHR (Apr 16, 2008)

ok so I'm confused now.
different links have said different things along with wikipedia pretty much contradicting itself. :? 
I'd just like to know what's on my wall  
any more help?


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

Understandable.....too much information available on the internet which contradicts itself. The information I had came directly from the West Virginia and Pennsylvania state fish departments.......from everything I've read your fish looks to be the "golden rainbow trout" originally developed in West Virginia......species-wise, of course, it is simply a color variant of hatchery rainbow trout.....don't mean to make it sound so plain....but most rainbows in the lower 48 are predominantly descendants of hatchery rainbows.....another long story.

The fish is definitely striking.....I would have stuffed it too...  

Brian


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## threshershark (Sep 7, 2007)

You guys know that Wikipedia is not a credible source for information right? It's a repository for articles that anyone can contribute. It has grown into a very large and well-known resource, but it's basically just people posting knowledge articles.

I could post an article on the Large Hadron Collider, a subject that I know nothing about. In other words, the value of anything in the wiki depends on whether or not the person who submitted it knew crap from shinola.

Don't consider stuff you find on Wikipedia fact. It's kind of like file sharing for knowledge. Kind of like saying "according to Napster, .45 is actually Festus from GunSmoke."


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## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/50902


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

:rotfl: 

Nice link, Pez. Here's to another 750!


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## hunterfisher (Sep 14, 2007)

That is an amazing looking fish man. Nice work!


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## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

FLYFSHR said:


> ok so I'm confused now.
> different links have said different things along with wikipedia pretty much contradicting itself. :?
> I'd just like to know what's on my wall
> any more help?


The best way to determine what type of fish you have is to contact the DWR, tell them the body of water you caught the fish in, and then they can tell you the stocking records of the fish they have put in that water.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

threshershark said:


> You guys know that Wikipedia is not a credible source for information right? It's a repository for articles that anyone can contribute. It has grown into a very large and well-known resource, but it's basically just people posting knowledge articles.
> 
> I could post an article on the Large Hadron Collider, a subject that I know nothing about. In other words, the value of anything in the wiki depends on whether or not the person who submitted it knew crap from shinola.
> 
> Don't consider stuff you find on Wikipedia fact. It's kind of like file sharing for knowledge. Kind of like saying "according to Napster, .45 is actually Festus from GunSmoke."


That to me, is totally shocking !! O-|-O

Not the fact about wikipedia, or the Large Hadron Collider, but, the fact that you actually admitted there is something in this life you know _nothing _about !!


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