# Tiger Trout/South Fork of Ogden River



## utbowhntr (Sep 11, 2007)

Caught my first tiger trout this weekend in the S.Fork of the Ogden River. pretty looking fish. I've heard there are some in Causey reservoir. Don't know to much about them. How rare are they and are they a hybrid of another fish. Just curious. Thanks for any info. Utbowhntr


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## Werbs (Jun 30, 2008)

HERE IS AN INSERT RIGHT OUT OF THE 2008 PROCLAMATION. IVE READ THIS THING FROMT TO BACK FOUR OR FIVE TIMES.

"Tiger trout are a new fish the Division has started stocking across Utah.
Tiger trout are a cross between a brook trout and a brown trout, and they’re doing extremely well in many parts of Utah. These fish are scrappy and full of fight.
The Division’s hatcheries will produce almost 600,000 tiger trout in 2008. Eight years ago, they were producing just 4,000 to 5,000 tigers a year."


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## OKEE (Jan 3, 2008)

I have caught tiger trout out of causey mostly small ones but my son caught a 20" out of causey Ice fishing .


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## utbowhntr (Sep 11, 2007)

The one I caught was probably 13-14". It was a very feisty fish.


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## irielifeinvi (Jul 14, 2008)

me and a buddy went north and fished causey on saturday. we were just spincasting from shore and saw several tigers chasing my lure. there were others trolling (electric and paddle only) and pulled several tigers, rainbows and kokanee out right in front of us. 

the division is planting several in lots of lakes recently. when you look at the planting records you will even see several that was planted in new reservoirs this year (ie current creek). i've seen some natural ones pulled out of jordanelle before. not only do they have great colors and patterns, give a great fight on the line but they are also sterile. i haven't seen any here in utah that have been very thick but give it a couple of years and we will have some great tiger trout fisheries.


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## bushrat311 (Sep 11, 2007)

irielifeinvi said:


> i've seen some natural ones pulled out of jordanelle before.


Interesting, never seen a brook trout in Jordanelle...



> i haven't seen any here in utah that have been very thick but give it a couple of years and we will have some great tiger trout fisheries.


You must not be fishing the right spots, Utah already has some GREAT tiger trout fisheries that grow some super thick and feisty tigers.


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## irielifeinvi (Jul 14, 2008)

thanks for the comments bushrat. you bring up some interesting points about the lack of brookies in jordanelle and the tiger spots in utah. let me explain myself a little more since i am new to this board.

i haven't seen any brookies pulled out of jordanelle either; however, there are some - along with brown trout - found in the upper provo. given that none to my knowledge has ever been planted in jordanelle, i assume that they are naturally bred in the upper provo and make their way down into jordanelle. i do not think they could have been planted there by accident. i have been into the tiger trout hatcheries and feel confident in saying that there is no way that the division could have made that mistake.

i have fished for tiger trout in a couple of locations where trout of 26" have been pulled out. while that is a decent TL, they still aren't thick and round compared to some of the tiger fisheries found north or east of us. you might consider these utah places great now, but just consider how much they will be in a couple of years.

i have worked with and kept tiger trout before. they don't seem to be very aggressive for food and are commonly out competed by bows and cutties. given this observed behaviour and that dwr are only planting them in certain places due to food sources, it does take a special environment (and time) here in utah to create the thick tigers that are caught back east and north of utah. 

thanks again for the comments. i would love to see some pics of large, thick tigers caught here in utah recently. being proven wrong and shown that there are some excellent tiger habitats here in utah would just get me (and others i'm sure) excited about how well these transplants are doing. makes me wanna take the rest of the week of and go wet my line for them


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Congrats on the first tiger! They are a fun fish to catch. From the size of it, I would assume it came out of Causey. They barely planted the south fork with tigers this year, but they are all three inches. Hopefully they will do well in there!


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## bushrat311 (Sep 11, 2007)

irielifeinvi said:


> i assume that they are naturally bred in the upper provo and make their way down into jordanelle.


Remember what they say about assuming...



> i would love to see some pics of large, thick tigers caught here in utah recently.


Search this forum and some of the other local boards and you should find what I'm talking about, I on the other hand would love to see some photos of tigers caught at Jordanelle or the upper Provo.


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## irielifeinvi (Jul 14, 2008)

i seem to have missed the point of this original post and i apologize. congratulations goes to utbowhntr for catching his first tiger! thanks for pointing that out greenguy88. they are a great fish to find on the end of your line and hope that utbowhntr catches more!

as for bushrat311 - i would post a pic from a tiger trout caught trolling in jordanelle; however, i'm sure you would still not believe that it came from there and find some other way to disprove it. i would rather you continue to believe that anything said is a lie unless it comes out of your mouth. please disregard any information i have posted previously.


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## bushrat311 (Sep 11, 2007)

irielifeinvi-

I'm not looking to call you a liar or disprove you're claims of "natural" tiger trout. I do not believe that anything that is said is a lie unless it comes from my mouth! Let me fill you in on where I'm coming from on this.

I've fished the upper provo/francis/kamas area my entire life. About 90% of my fishing is done on the upper Provo and Jordanelle. I used to love to fish the section near Hailstone with my father and grandfather BEFORE Jordanelle was built. In that time I've only caught two brook trout and seen one other caught between Soapstone and Jordanelle and I've never seen a tiger trout. I know that brookies are in there, but their numbers in comparison to browns and other trout is relatively few. Supposing some brook trout do spawn with some browns and produce tigers that survive would be a rarity. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, it would just be very rare (I didn't realize that they could occur naturally). If there is a minuscule number of tigers swimming around between the river and the reservoir, congratulations on catching one. I really would like to see the picture you've got.


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## utbowhntr (Sep 11, 2007)

Thanks for the congrats on my first tiger trout. Wish I had had a camera with me to post a pic, but unfortunately I didn't. I look forward though to going back up and catching more. The one I caught was a fun experience. Thanks again. I caught it by the way using a panther martin with a gold blade and yellow body with red spots. Utbowhntr


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Nice, that is a rare catch on that stretch of river. One of the fun things about the South Fork (especially below the dam) is you don't know what your next fish is going to be. I have only caught one Tiger there but it was a pig about 18 inches long. Keep fishing and you will likely catch some splake as well. I have actually caught quite a few splake below causey dam. (all on flies) If you fish streamers or nymphs on a deep rig right at the dam pool right next to the water discharge tubes there are quite a few Splake hanging right in the bubble up. There are also some rainbows and Cutts in that stretch of river as well as the occasional whitefish. The farther you go downstream, the more the browns take over. I landed a brown down a little lower a couple of weeks ago that was rising to caddis that was 20.5" long and had a girth of 14". Couldn't even fit two hands all the way around it. My biggest fish out of that river. Always fun when you can sightfish to a brown that size in such a small river! He was filled with Salmonflies and had adult caddisflies falling out of his mouth when I landed him.


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## Guns and Flies (Nov 7, 2007)

flyguy7 said:


> Nice, that is a rare catch on that stretch of river. One of the fun things about the South Fork (especially below the dam) is you don't know what your next fish is going to be. I have only caught one Tiger there but it was a pig about 18 inches long. Keep fishing and you will likely catch some splake as well. I have actually caught quite a few splake below causey dam. (all on flies) If you fish streamers or nymphs on a deep rig right at the dam pool right next to the water discharge tubes there are quite a few Splake hanging right in the bubble up. There are also some rainbows and Cutts in that stretch of river as well as the occasional whitefish. The farther you go downstream, the more the browns take over. I landed a brown down a little lower a couple of weeks ago that was rising to caddis that was 20.5" long and had a girth of 14". Couldn't even fit two hands all the way around it. My biggest fish out of that river. Always fun when you can sightfish to a brown that size in such a small river! He was filled with Salmonflies and had adult caddisflies falling out of his mouth when I landed him.


Sounds like you need to update you avitar!


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

irielifeinvi said:


> i seem to have missed the point of this original post and i apologize. congratulations goes to utbowhntr for catching his first tiger! thanks for pointing that out greenguy88. they are a great fish to find on the end of your line and hope that utbowhntr catches more!
> 
> as for bushrat311 - i would post a pic from a tiger trout caught trolling in jordanelle; however, i'm sure you would still not believe that it came from there and find some other way to disprove it. i would rather you continue to believe that anything said is a lie unless it comes out of your mouth. please disregard any information i have posted previously.


Welcome to the forum, irielifenvi.
There are many here that would love to see your pictures.
I for one love to fish for Tiger Trout and would love to see some of your pictures of Tigers from other States.
Grandpa D.


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## cat_man (Sep 19, 2007)

Huntington Reservoir has produced some huge bruiser Tiger Trout. I believe it was the first reservoir stocked by the Division with Tigers. They actually compete quite well for food and, similar to Cutthroat, are very piscivorous (fish eating) when allowed to grow large enough to do so. They help keep chub populations in check.


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## irielifeinvi (Jul 14, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestion of Huntington Reservoir for tigers. I will get down there and give it a shot. I've fished in other places up noth for tigers but have never headed down south. It does seem that I'm missing out on some great places.

I haven't fished in other states for tigers. I'm refering to them due to other pics I have seen and what some division officials have told me. From what I've been told, the UDWR are very excited about the upcoming tiger fisheries here - as it seems we all are!

My pic of a 'natural' tiger from Jordanelle is on my phone - that is now sitting on the bottom of Jordanelle! I thought I could pull it up from my outbox but that was a couple of months ago and it has been deleted. So I guess we can consider the tiger in Jordanelle "just another fish story". It was caught a little north of the marina and I'm sure I'll catch another one for you guys to see.

OH - I wanted to apologize to bushrat311 for my ignorant comments towards him. Sorry for suggesting you consider everyone a liar.


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## FC2Tuber (Oct 26, 2007)

I'd be willing to bet that the tiger you caught out of Jordanelle was planted by mistake with a batch of bows....


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

BTW congrats on the Tiger trout.....truly a "different" kind of trout. In reality I guess you would have to call it a "troar" or a "chout" as it is a hybrid of both. Let me offer a quote from the imminent trout biologist Robert J. Behnke, from his definitive work, "Trout and Salmon of North America": "North American hatcheries create the rather ferocious looking tiger trout by crossing brook trout with the nonnative brown trout. This hybrid is a RARE occurence in nature where the two species cohabitate...." Back east where there is a huge overlap of brown trout and brookies there are only a couple of documented "natural" tiger trout....they would be extremely unlikely where there is not an abundance of both species. In nature the eggs are rarely viable as they are not only different species but each from a different genus. Just as the splake is readily produced in hatcheries, even though that is two closely related species within the same genus (salvelinus namaycushXsalvelinus fontinalis), they are virtually unseen where they overlap in their native range.

Personally I do not understand the fascination with all these nonnative fishes, especially the "designer" ones like tigers, which have come to displace almost all aboriginal species. Granted....I spent nearly a decade (mid 70's to mid 80's) fishing the Provo River thru the canyon and catching 100's if not thousands of browns...but they aren't even native to the western hemisphere.

We should be doing more to restore native populations which would bring more stability to the ecosystems.

Brian


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## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

I had a chance to fish the Provo this weekend, between the south fork and the mill hollow turnoff. Amongst the 19 fish I landed, 5 species were represented. Brown (1), tiger (1), brook (2), rainbow (1), and cutthroat (14). I have no way of knowing if the tiger was a natural hybrid or not, but it is certainly possible since I caught browns and brookies out of the same hole. It was kind of a kick to land a 15" tiger in a stream that was only a few feet wide in places :mrgreen:


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## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

Justed wanted to apologize if I offended anyone with my last remarks......I am a rather passionate devotee to restoring native trouts to their habitats....didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. Again, naturally occurring tigers are virtually unkown in ranges where the predominant species are brookies and browns. If they did produce naturally it would end first generation as all tiger trout are sterile and can't reproduce.

They sure are cool looking critters....

Brian


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

I watched my buddy catch a natural tiger right below the Soldier Creek Dam about 4 years ago or so. Strawberry River! We were both shocked, but we were catching a bunch of brookies right there and knew that browns were there too.

I've never seen another natural, but they do happen.

Whether or not someone caught one from the 'nelle...

???

I suppose it's possible (a stretch, but both species do exist upstream), but I wasn't there and there are no pics.


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