Triploids

[bigastrout]

Do you think these fish really eat themselves to trophy size or do they just get caught that much quicker?

Is there any way to distinguish them from other rainbows?

[FishSlayer]

http://www.eou.edu/~mmustoe/Fishing.html
A site i found on triploids.

[A9]

They are usually much fatter and look like footballs...They do eat much quicker too...Thats how they put on the size...

[GeryG]

To tell them apart, when you catch them before they get football size, there tail doesnt come
to a point, its veryrounded, more so than a regular rainbow. I'm sure most of them get caught,
the first year, but the lucky one who catches the hold over, one that didnt:d/ They sure dont fight as
hard as a normal trout that lenth.

fishinwithg

[gpc]

Thats funny I never thought of it like that. I dont know if you know this or not but the contract between the hatcheries and the WDFW is that every trip way no less than a pound and they have to avserage 1.5 lb when they are put into the lakes. Its kind of hard to tell the diffrence between the 2 but the football thing is right. But after catching a whole bunch of bows and being familiar with the fish, you can tell the diffrence, not a huge diffrence but after holding and looking at 1000s of bows you can tell

[raffensg64]

My understanding is that they have a "clipped" adipose fin (the one between the dorsal and the tail) and they are "eating machines". I've caught several of them the last few years, mostly from Amber and West Medical, and most of them have been large. For example, you will rarely see a 22" regular rainbow at Amber. But if you catch one larger, say 23-24", chances are very good that it'll have a clipped fin.

Last week my partner got two triploids at W. Medical. These fish measured out at 23 and 24" respectively and had clipped fins. And like Amber, we got several large "regular" rainbows in the 19-22" range, but none larger.

As for the fight, I've seen them go absolutely ballistic, getting air several times, and I've seen others just stay deep and fight long and hard like a brownie. But they all fought well.

It's possible that some folks confuse these fish with broodstock, aka breeders. The state dumps several hundred of these fish annually in selected lakes. A partner and I caught several of these at Badger a couple years ago, in the 25-28" range. They are super-sized, ugly, have rounded noses and tails and don't fight at all. They were the ugliest trout I've ever seen!

P.S. Thanks for the link, Fishslayer!

Here's a quick edit note: It's probable that a lot or most triploids don't have clipped adipose fins. But once again my understanding is that the WDFW does this as a way of differentiating these from other rainbows, in the event of future studies. At Amber Lake in Spokane County, for example, studies were being conducted on these fish for years and it was mandatory that all with clipped fins be released.

[glastron876]

Triploids can become quite HUGE...I found this by trying to also do some research on how to distinguish a Triploid from a regular Rainbow...I will pay more attention to the tail fins from now on...but check this guy out in Santa Ana River Lakes - the Triploids are provided for that area from Mt. Lasssen Trout Farms. 26.08 pounds back in 2004 ( www.fishinglakes.com/BigTrout.htm )

[Drewp]

Maybe it's just me, but there's something fishy about that fish, and by fishy, I mean photoshoppy. [-x o:)

[glastron876]

You know - I kinda thought so myself when I saw the first photo on that website, but then I looked deeper in the site & went to some of their other pages - like this one ( http://www.fishingwebcam.com/CoronaLake.htm ) - there are just too many HUGE TRIPLOIDS to actually discount it.

Dont know what else to say except that I would like to go to these lakes and check it out for myself...

[A9]

I've found that they tend to have a lighter meat too when you cut into them....

[FishSlayer]

All of their enegry that would go to reproducing actually goes to gaining weight.

[troutking]

the fish and game says they clip one pelvic fin on the fat football buggers.

[bigastrout]

I dont think the clipped fin thing is true. I looked at a bunch of pictures of trout that people say are triploid and cant find any missing fins. Does anyone have any documentation on this?

[fish4brains]

Aren't all hatchery ie: "stocked" fin clipped? And that pic is totally photoshoped. His right hand does not make an impression on the fish and his shirt is a little out of focus around the fish. Big fish though!

[bigastrout]

Aren't all hatchery ie: "stocked" fin clipped? And that pic is totally photoshoped. His right hand does not make an impression on the fish and his shirt is a little out of focus around the fish. Big fish though!

No, clipping fins is done by hand there are to many fish stocked each year for that. Steelhead and some Cutthroat are the only fish they clip fins on as far as I know.

[A9]

The reason they grow to trophy sizes is because after they reach 4 pounds they actually double in weight.

That makes no sense....

[ChrisB]

LOL, I like the double in weight remark
I caught a "brooder" out of Meridian years ago. 5.5 lbs, true story. Ugliest fish I've ever seen, the rear most fin was cut up so much he barely had anything to kick with.

[bustin]

The fish pic is definately photoshopped.

[Marc Martyn]

No it is not. Look at the shadows, they match the sun angle. Shadows are difficult to reproduce. Authentic picture.

[Skaha]

All of their enegry that would go to reproducing actually goes to gaining weight.

-- I tend to agree with you. In the first year or so they would grow at a similar rate as fish alread in the lake...once they get near first spawn age they would start to grow more rapidly.
-- There area many factors other than just being triploid that would affect growth rate.. ie. obvioulsly the feed in the lake but also the size that they are released.
--The rounded fin thing? Likely only on triploids that have been kept in a hatchery to catchable size... there should be no difference if they are released early in their development.
--Clipped fins at hatchery... usually done where there is a reason to know which fish are hatchery... ie. keep only hatchery fishery or if there is a need to measure or otherwise mark the fish. Probably not a requirement for all areas and it is an extra costs.
--I can't give definative answers for your fisheries program as I reside in BC and can only comment on information that I have leaned from here. I think there are similarities in these programs.