Trout ID Mystery

Technically the mystery has already been solved.  But I learned a lot, so I thought I would share it.

I am a self-professed trout nerd and have spent a LOT of time perfecting my trout identification.  At one point, I could identify any member of Onchorhynchus on the plate!

In fact, this is the first time as an adult angler that I can remember getting a trout ID wrong!

I caught a 16" trout in Lake Tahoe on 2/20.  I was trolling with a spoon on lead core line in 20 feet of water on my way back to the boat ramp.   I thought it was a rainbow.  I did think it was a little different than other rainbow trout I has seen, as the pink band was faint, the jaw was slightly under-slung, and the tail had no spots. I chalked these slight differences up to it being a wild fish, rather than the hatchery fish that I have been catching lately.

I posted the fish onto the AOTY website, eager to get a decent sized fish on the board.  The picture is attached.  A few days later, the moderator had approved the catch, but had changed the species from "Trout" to "Brown Trout".  In retrospect, I realize we have really experienced moderators on AOTY who have some experience with Tahoe trout.

Of course, as an arrogant bastard, I was pretty sure the moderators were wrong.   I hadn't seen any haloes around the spots on the fish, certainly no red spots, and there was no yellow or cream anywhere on this fish. I started doing some research.  I try not to let the fact that I may be wrong get in the way of my pursuit to prove myself right.  I got some fish biologists involved.  They assured me it was a rainbow.  I reached out to some crusty East Coast friends.  They assured me it was an Atlantic Salmon.  (For those who love fish trivia, there have been multiple attempts to create a viable population of Atlantic Salmon in Lake Tahoe, the latest being in 1984).

I took a better look at my photos.  Looking at the one where I am holding the fish, I started to imagine haloes around the spots...  At the same time, I swear I can see a faint pink band.  But there was that tail with no spots...  I researched Google images of rainbow trout, and couldn't find a single one without spots on the tail.  Then I found a quote in the book Lake Tahoe's Desolation Wilderness Fishing Guide which said "Lake dwelling browns develop a lighter coloring and may look closely similar to their relative, the Atlantic Salmon."

Okay.  That's enough evidence for me to say I am wrong.  I love having closure, and I actually quite enjoy being humbled when on a topic I enjoy.  Considering I have never caught a brown trout from a lake, especially a lake in the Sierra, it seems there was some room to learn, eh?

I look forward to trying to convince my fish biologist friends that it is indeed a brown, or more specifically a Desolation Wilderness Lake Brown.

I'll end this with kudos to the AOTY moderators, and a little selfish happiness for myself that I added a new specie to my AOTY Fish List!

Awesome!!

I'll end this with kudos to the AOTY moderators, and a little selfish happiness for myself that I added a new specie to my AOTY Fish List!

Nice!!!

Yeah, the AOTY mods know their fish for sure!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

More than happy to help  .  I see this type of coloration in lake-dwelling brown trout most often in late winter and spring.  I attribute it to a combination of low light conditions and a brown trout's tendency to utilize open-water habitat during these months.  They're feeding almost exclusively on small baitfish this time of year, and a silvery camouflage is more effective for them when hunting in open water compared to the typical brown/yellow color scheme.  Sometimes a brown trout will have spots on the tail, but I only see this when the fish is in the brown/yellow color scheme and never when they're in their "silvery" form.  As you mentioned, spotting the halos around the spots is very difficult when the browns go "silver mode".

A couple things to look for when differentiating a "silver brown" from a rainbow: no spots on the tail, no hint of pink anywhere on the fish, and predominantly large, black spots along the sides but rarely over the back.  The fish below is a toad of a brown I CnRed from Lake Almanor a couple years ago, in March.  Looks pretty far-fetched from the typical photo of a brown trout, eh?  But brownie he is...

Thanks for the recap of your species ID experience. Some of those browns can be difficult!

I have also noticed that some Shasta Browns lack the halo around the spots.

Here's another one that looks similar to your fish.  I caught this last weekend, so they're definitely going into "silver mode" right now!

That coloration is typical of the spring brown trout in the great lakes.

Thanks for the responses.  This is great info...  Now I have some solid traits to use for identification - no spots on tail, and the concentration of spots on the side.

To quote The Who: We won't be fooled again!

@clayman : I like the camouflage theory.  My personal theory has to do with mating.  Many salmonids undergo color changes for a spawning run, much like salmon turning pink, and steelhead turning chrome.  My guess was that this seasonal (winter) color change was part of that spawning cycle... 

Nice one, TroutCharmer.   

Pretty cool to see them in the "silver mode" thanks for sharing!

The top photo I'd probably say rainbow too, but the bottom, looks like a brown.

Of course, as an arrogant bastard, I was pretty sure the moderators were wrong.   

Yes folks, he belongs here.

Bushy

Thanks for the recap of your species ID experience. Some of those browns can be difficult!

I have also noticed that some Shasta Browns lack the halo around the spots.

Shasta browns are a myth !

Yes, I would have been fooled by that fish also... thanks for the intel....

Looks like a searun loch leven.
When it came up on the aoty board, I said Atlantic Salmon hahaha (jokingly).
Here's some good info on salmo truta: http://www.wildtrout.org/content/trout-facts
Could you imagine a 100+ pound brown trout? They used to grow that big in the Caspian Sea until they were overfished in the early 1900s (avg commercial size was 33lbs!?).